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Also known as Freshly Mown Grass · Mown Lawn
Spanish (pilot): Césped recién cortado · pending native-speaker review · Leer en español (piloto)
A vivid green, moist and freshly cut plant impression associated with lawns and summer outdoors.
Its type is State because its name already describes a condition, such as wet, toasted or after rain. That is a way of grouping entries; it is different from the states listed for this entry, which record how a smell is met. See how smells are grouped.
Cut grass smells intensely green, moist and fresh, with a sharp, sappy edge and a slight sweetness underneath. EDITORIAL
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Links SmellBook records for this entry: what it comes from, where you meet it, related smells and comparisons. EDITORIAL links are chosen by SmellBook editors. Nothing here is a ranking.
QUESTIONS ABOUT CUT GRASS
Cut grass smells intensely green, moist and fresh, with a sharp, sappy edge and a slight sweetness underneath. The first wave after mowing is loud and vivid, then after a while it softens into a gentler, hay-like greenness. The texture is juicy rather than dry. It is easily confused with other crushed leaves, though its watery, sweet green character is easy to recognise.
People meet it on summer days when lawns, parks, playing fields and road verges are mowed. Many people link it with school holidays, sports grounds and long evenings outdoors.
Typical settings: fresh lawn, park, garden.
SmellBook links it to 2 place pages: see them in Connections.
One VERIFIED scientific claim from one published source is recorded for this entry: Green leaf volatiles after plant damage. This claim says only what its source supports, in the scope shown with it.
The scientific study behind this evidence is chemistry or emission work, not a study of how the smell is perceived.
Cut Grass is a state-rich profile: freshly cut plant material smells different from an untouched lawn.
SmellBook records one written comparison with other smells: see it in Connections.
Words that are easy to mix up: Is fresh the same as clean?, How do green and herbal differ? and Is citrus a kind of fresh?
No historical source or heritage record is linked to this entry yet.
Answers marked EDITORIAL are written by SmellBook editors to describe the experience and add no scientific fact. Answers marked VERIFIED point to claims on published sources, checked against each source's own summary where one was available (each claim's page says how); what each claim supports is in its own text and scope.
Scientific evidence · 1 claim
Green leaf volatiles after plant damage
Green leaf volatiles, six-carbon compounds found throughout vascular plants, are produced almost immediately when stresses such as insect feeding damage plant tissue, while their levels in intact tissue are low.
Supports the rapid release of green leaf volatiles from damaged tissue; the review itself does not describe their odour, and profiles vary across species and conditions.
How this was found: Chemical composition. Compounds were identified or measured, without any assessment of their odour. Source: review of earlier studies; chemistry work.
Kenji Matsui & Jurgen Engelberth
DOI 10.1093/pcp/pcac117Links chosen by SmellBook editors, not a ranking.
Associations can vary strongly by person, place and culture.
PATHS FROM HERE
Each step is a relationship SmellBook editors recorded in the knowledge graph, named as it is published there. Paths are not ranked or personalised, and they do not mean the smells smell alike.
MY SMELLBOOK · LOCAL ONLY
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MAP THIS SMELL
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WHERE THIS SMELL APPEARS
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FOR RESEARCHERS AND EDITORS
Identity, revision history, corrections and how to cite Cut Grass.
CULTURAL: This entry's associations depend on context, language, memory or culture; its description and smell words are editorial. It says nothing about research or historical evidence; evidence for this entry is shown separately: VERIFIED.
A state says how an entry is met, such as wet, aged or roasted. It does not create a new smell, and it adds no scientific fact by itself: states marked EDITORIAL come from the entry's own records, and only those marked VERIFIED are reported by a VERIFIED claim.
How this entry is identified and named, for citing it or matching it with other records.
SmellBook SB-0015 — Cut Grasssmellbook:smell:cut-grasshttps://smellbook.com/smells/cut-grassSmellBook. (2026). Cut Grass (revision 4, 2026-10-06). SmellBook Public Atlas. smellbook:smell:cut-grass. https://smellbook.com/smells/cut-grass@misc{smellbook_cut_grass_r4,
author = {{SmellBook}},
title = {Cut Grass},
year = {2026},
note = {SmellBook Public Atlas, revision 4, 2026-10-06, smellbook:smell:cut-grass},
url = {https://smellbook.com/smells/cut-grass}
}TY - ENCYC ID - smellbook-cut-grass-r4 TI - Cut Grass AU - SmellBook T2 - SmellBook Public Atlas PY - 2026 DA - 2026/10/06 ET - revision 4 UR - https://smellbook.com/smells/cut-grass N1 - SB-0015; smellbook:smell:cut-grass; resolver https://smellbook.com/id/smell/cut-grass ER -
The citation names revision 4 of 2026-10-06, so a reader can tell exactly which version was cited. Citing records what was read; it does not grant a licence.
Cut Grass is a state-rich profile: freshly cut plant material smells different from an untouched lawn.
Other entries whose editors linked to Cut Grass:
Editorial description expanded to answer what it smells like and where you meet it; independently reviewed.
Created 2026-09-22 · Updated 2026-10-06Dataset history In the SmellBook dataset since the first of three dataset releases of 2026-09-30.
No correction notices published for this entry. Corrections policyEVIDENCE MATTERS
SmellBook separates cultural association, community perception, verified evidence, prediction and experimental relationships rather than presenting them as the same thing. Read the evidence guide ↗ See the evidence coverage report ↗