smell a rat

Meaning

1. to suspect that sth is wrong about a situation

In the movies · 3

• Turns out that funny smell was rat poison.Ratatouille2007
• Oh, my God! It smells like a dead rat!Widows2018
• - I smell a rat. - I smell something, too.Way Out West1937

From the same entry

• come up of smelling of roses
• a rose by any other name would smell as sweet
• wake up and smell the coffee
• smell out
• the sweet smell of success