kokmak

The verb 'kokmak' in Turkish can be used in various contexts to mean 'to smell' or 'to reek.' When used with an adjective like 'güzel' (beautiful) or 'iyi' (good), it means 'to smell good' or 'to have a pleasant scent' (e.g., 'Çiçekler güzel kokuyor' - The flowers smell beautiful). Conversely, with adjectives like 'kötü' (bad) or 'leş gibi' (like a carcass), it means 'to smell bad' or 'to reek' (e.g., 'Çöp kötü kokuyor' - The garbage smells bad). It can also be used to describe something that emits a particular smell, often in a more neutral sense (e.g., 'Yemek kokuyor' - The food smells, implying a cooking aroma). 'Kokmak' can also be used metaphorically, especially in informal speech, to suggest that something is suspicious or that there's something wrong (e.g., 'Bu işte bir iş kokuyor' - There's something fishy about this business, literally 'a smell of business comes from this'). Another common metaphorical use is 'kokusu çıkmak,' meaning for a secret or scandal to come out into the open. The noun form, 'koku,' refers to the smell itself.