Idiom
smell the barn
Meaning
To act with renewed energy or speed or to experience heightened anticipation as one approaches a destination, goal, or other desired outcome.
Meaning adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Examples
“The horses run faster when they smell the barn.”
“I always smell the barn when I finish the last chapter of a book.”
“You really smell the barn once you start packing your bags for home.”
“We were tired after the long hike, but we started walking faster once we could smell the barn.”
“The marathon runners picked up their pace during the final mile because they could finally smell the barn.”
“After three weeks of traveling for work, I started to smell the barn as I drove toward my neighborhood.”
“As the final deadline approached, the team worked with renewed intensity, clearly beginning to smell the barn after months of exhaustive labor.”
Examples
simple
“The horses run faster when they smell the barn.”
“I always smell the barn when I finish the last chapter of a book.”
“You really smell the barn once you start packing your bags for home.”
contextual
“We were tired after the long hike, but we started walking faster once we could smell the barn.”
“The marathon runners picked up their pace during the final mile because they could finally smell the barn.”
“After three weeks of traveling for work, I started to smell the barn as I drove toward my neighborhood.”
complex
“As the final deadline approached, the team worked with renewed intensity, clearly beginning to smell the barn after months of exhaustive labor.”
Origin
The phrase refers to the behaviour of livestock returning to their quarters at the end of the day. It is most commonly associated with a horse drawing a carriage, which is said to increase its pace when it senses that the home journey is nearing its conclusion.
Key words
Related idioms
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