sa·vor
(sā′vər)n.
1. A specific taste or smell: the savor of fresh mint.
2. The quality of something that is perceived as taste or smell: "There is little savor in dead men's meat" (Stephen Vincent Benét).
3. A distinctive quality or characteristic: enjoyed the savors of local life on their trip.
v. sa·vored, sa·vor·ing, sa·vors
v.intr.
1. To have a particular taste or smell: a dish that savors of curry.
2. To exhibit a specified quality or characteristic; smack: postures that savored of vanity.
v.tr.
1. To taste or smell, especially with pleasure: savored each morsel of the feast.
2. To appreciate fully; enjoy or relish: I want to savor this moment of accomplishment.
[Middle English savour, from Old French, from Latin sapor, from sapere, to taste; see sep- in Indo-European roots.]
sa′vor·er n.
sa′vor·ous adj.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
savoring - taking a small amount into the mouth to test its quality; "cooking was fine but it was the savoring that he enjoyed most"