cowdust hour
n.— «Far away a faint roar signaled the mounting confusion of Delhi’s rush hour—the “cowdust hour” with its pungent odor of thousands of fires kindled in preparation for the evening meal.» —by Elwyn M. Chamberlain Gates of Fire , 1978. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
What’s the word for the smell of rain? It’s petrichor. For years, scientists referred to this evidence of rain as argillaceous odor because it was particularly noticeable near soil with a lot of whitish clay called argil. Then, in the...
Todd, a firefighter in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, wonders about the difference between the words smell and odor. Also, which verb is the better choice: orient or orientate? This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Smell vs. Odor”...