# overscent
## English
### Etymology

From over- +‎ scent.

### Pronunciation

* Verb:
** (UK) IPA: /ˌəʊvəˈsɛnt/
** Audio (Southern England):(file)
* Noun:
** (UK) IPA: /ˈəʊvəˌsɛnt/
** Audio (Southern England):(file)

### Verb

overscent (third-person singular simple present overscents, present participle overscenting, simple past and past participle overscented)
* (transitive) To give too much scent to (something or someone); to scent excessively.
** 1989, Dan Bertalan, Traditional Bowyers of America, East Lansing, MI: Envisage Unlimited, Chapter 10, p. 158,
    He figured the big bear was coming in downwind and picking up his scent. “So I moved the bait station about 200 yards to a better location. Most bear hunters won’t make so many changes because they’re scared of overscenting the area. But I knew I had to make changes to kill that bear. […] ”
** 2003, Diane L. Bauman, chapter 39, in Beyond Basic Dog Training‎, Indianapolis: Howell Book House, page 179:Licking articles is sometimes seen in an experienced dog when the handler is very nervous, has sweaty palms, and overscents the article.
** 2007, Shannon Lush, How to Be Comfy: Hundreds of Tips to Make Your House a Home‎, Sydney: ABC Books, page 53:Adding aroma—by having fragrant flowers or flowering plants or using fragrant room sprays or candles—to a lounge/family room is lovely, but don’t overscent the room because it can increase, rather than decrease, tension and cause headaches!
* (intransitive, reflexive) To apply too much scent to oneself.
** 1873, “Perfumes”, in Every Saturday‎, Series 3, Volume 3, No. 20, 17 May, 1873, p. 555:It is never good taste to overscent one’s-self, but a person who uses no kind of artificial perfume at all, neither in soap nor in pomade, nor yet in the linen, is not always the most agreeable.
** 2000, Ronni Eisenberg, Organize Your Job Search,‎, New York: Hyperion, page 155:Cologne and perfume are nice but use in moderation. If you overscent, you run the risk that your interviewer dislikes the smell, or even has a bad reaction to it.
** 2012, Kay West, chapter 11, in How to Raise a Lady,‎, Nashville: Thomas Nelson, page 120:A young lady does not spray herself with so much sun-ripened raspberry body splash that she attracts bees. She particularly does not overscent herself if she is going to be in a confined space with captive companions.
** 2013, Maureen Lindley, A Girl Like You‎, London: Bloomsbury, page 293:“Just spray in front of you, dear girl,” he advises. “Then walk into the mist. It’s vulgar to overscent.”
* To scent so as to cover or conceal the original odour.
** 1655, Thomas Fuller, The Church-history of Britain; […], London: […] Iohn Williams […], →OCLC, (please specify |book=I to XI), page 371:having the stinch of his railing tongue, over-sented with the fragrant ointment of this Prince’s memory
** 1994, Phil Condon, “And Quinn”, in River Street‎, Dallas: Southern Methodist University Press, page 93:[…] she feels the truck moving toward her, rattling the small-town night with its rough bellow, close enough now to scrape the low-hanging branches and overscent the gentle lilacs,

### Noun

overscent (plural overscents)
* A scent that is added to or layered over another.
    Coordinate term: underscent
** 1977, Edward S. Aarons, chapter 1, in Assignment Tiger Devil‎, Greenwich, CT: Fawcett, page 5:Through the broken windows of the wheelhouse came a stench compounded of bog and decay, the watery overscent of the thrusting river that had lured Sir Walter Raleigh toward a mythical El Dorado.
** 1984, Ann Charlton, chapter 4, in No Last Song‎, New York: Harlequin, published 1985, page 67:the familiar scent of his skin and the oddly boyish overscent of the wool sweater he wore
** 2000, Julie Czerneda, chapter 1, in Changing Vision‎, New York: DAW, page 15:[…] the stench of imminent death was almost more than I could bear. Worse was the overscent of abandonment.
** 2006, Kerry Greenwood, chapter 4, in Murder in the Dark‎, Scottsdale, AZ: Poisoned Pen Press, published 2009, page 47:The air was cool and scented with sandalwood, a bracing, masculine scent. There was an overscent of hashish.

### References

* ↑ Charles Annandale (ed.), The Imperial Dictionary of the English Language, London: Blackie, 1883, Volume 3, p. 345.