Smell of the lamp British speaking idiom informal figurative mainly UK archaic
Show signs of great and arduous efforts or labour on study or tasks leading to the result of tiredness and lack of vitality.
Her assignments seem to be extremely demanding, so she is probably going to smell of the lamp for days.
Lisa looks so tire today. I guess she smelled of the lamp last night.
Marcus has smelt of the lamp to prepare for the final examination for 2 weeks, no wonder why he looks so exhausting.
Adequate measures or actions
To work very hard for something
An industrious person
The verb "smell" should be conjugated according to its tense.
The origin of this expression comes from the etymology which means "Suggesting work done throughout the night".