nose - Wiktionary, the free dictionary (original) (raw)

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

head

head

nose

Click on labels in the image.

Human nose

From Middle English nose, from Old English nosu, from Proto-West Germanic *nosu, variant of *nasō, old dual from Proto-Indo-European *néh₂s- ~ *nh₂es- (“nose, nostril”).

See also Saterland Frisian Noose, West Frisian noas, Dutch neus, Swedish nos, Norwegian nos (“snout”), Low German Nääs, German Nase, Swedish näsa, Norwegian nese, Danish næse (“nose”); also Latin nāris (“nostril”), nāsus (“nose”), Lithuanian nósis, Russian нос (nos), Sanskrit नासा (nā́sā, “nostrils”).

nose (plural noses)

  1. A protuberance on the face housing the nostrils, which are used to breathe or smell.
    She had a small nose between two sparkling blue eyes.
  2. A snout, the nose of an animal.
  3. The tip of an object.
    the nose of a tea-kettle, a bellows, or a fighter plane
  4. The bulge on the side of a piece of a jigsaw puzzle, that fits into the hole of its adjacent piece.
  5. (horse racing) The length of a horse’s nose, used to indicate the distance between horses at the finish of a race, or any very close race.
    Red Rum only won by a nose.
  6. (perfumery) A perfumer.
    • 2014 March 4, Nicole Vulser, “Perfume manufacturers must cope with the scarcity of precious supplies”, in The Guardian‎[1], →ISSN:
      Jacques Polge, Chanel's top “nose” since 1978, made the decision when developers started trying to buy up land around Grasse, where the Muls cultivate three hectares of the precious plant.
  7. The sense of smell.
    • c. 1700, Jeremy Collier, Of Envy:
      We are not offended with […] a dog for a better nose than his master.
  8. (idiomatic) Bouquet, the smell of something, especially wine.
  9. The skill in recognising bouquet.
    It is essential that a winetaster develops a good nose.
  10. (by extension) Skill at finding information.
    A successful tabloid reporter has a nose for gossip.
  1. (idiomatic, also followed by around or about) The action of nosing, in the sense to snoop
    They had a nose around the abandoned property.
  2. (architecture) A downward projection from a cornice.
    Synonym: drip
  3. (slang) An informer.
    Synonym: nark

nose (third-person singular simple present noses, present participle nosing, simple past and past participle nosed)

  1. (intransitive) To move cautiously by advancing its front end.
    The ship nosed through the minefield.
    • 2025 November 12, Tony Streeter, “All around the world”, in RAIL, number 1048, page 42:
      Promontory's "last spike" ceremony was so significant to the USA's history that it is still regularly re-enacted today, using replica locomotives that nose up to each other just as the originals did.
  2. (intransitive, idiomatic, also followed by around or about, in which case, ambitransitive) To snoop.
    She was nosing around other people’s business.
  3. (transitive) To detect by smell or as if by smell.
    • c. 1599–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene iii], page 273:
      […] if you finde him not this moneth, you ſhall noſe him as you go vp the ſtaires into the Lobby.
    • 2002 October 20, Bob Morris, “Connoisseurship Runneth Over”, in The New York Times‎[2], →ISSN:
      Real connoisseurs know that to nose and taste properly you have to add still water to your tulip-shaped glass so that the alcohol doesn't overwhelm you.
  4. (transitive) To push with one's nose; to nuzzle.
    • 1868, Alfred Tennyson, “Lucretius”, in The Holy Grail and Other Poems, London: Strahan and Co., […], published 1870, →OCLC, page 211:
      [L]ambs are glad / Nosing the mother's udder, and the bird / Makes his heart voice among the blaze of flowers: […]
  5. (transitive) To defeat (as in a race or other contest) by a narrow margin; sometimes with out.
  6. (transitive) To utter in a nasal manner; to pronounce with a nasal twang.
    to nose a prayer
    • c. 1635, William Cartwright, The Ordinary:
      It makes far better musick when you nose Sternold's, or Wisdom's meeter.
  7. (transitive) To furnish with a nose.
    to nose a stair tread
  8. (transitive) To confront; be closely face to face or opposite to.
  9. (intransitive, aviation) To dive down in a steep angle; to nosedive
  10. (intransitive, aviation, nautical) To travel with the nose of the plane/ship aimed in a particular direction.
    The plane is nosing up!
    We have to get it nosing down.

to snoop

to detect

to win by a narrow margin

Translations to be checked

nose

  1. vocative/locative singular of nos

nose

  1. masculine singular present transgressive of nosit

nose

  1. Rōmaji transcription of のせ

nose

  1. nominative/accusative plural of nos

From Old English nosu, from Proto-West Germanic *nosu.

nose (plural noses or nosen)

  1. nose (protrusion of the human face)
    • a. 1394, Geoffrey Chaucer, “General Prologue”, in The Canterbury Tales‎[3], lines 151–152:
      Ful semyly hir wympul pynched was / Hir nose tretys, hir eyen greye as glas […]
      Her wimple was folded in quite a seemly way / Her nose [was] slender; her eyes [were] grey like glass […]
  2. beak, nose-shaped protrusion

Probably from Old French nous, nos, nominative singular of nou, no (“knot”).

nose (plural noses)

  1. (rare, Late Middle English) noose

From Proto-Bantu *njíkɪ̀.

nose

  1. bee

nose (present tense nosar, past tense nosa, past participle nosa, passive infinitive nosast, present participle nosande, imperative **nose/nos)

  1. (transitive) to sniff, nose

nose

  1. inflection of nosu:
    1. accusative/genitive/dative singular
    2. nominative/accusative plural

nose f

  1. nose

nose (Cyrillic spelling носе)

  1. third-person plural present of nositi

nose

  1. locative singular of nos

nose

  1. (text messaging, colloquial) short for no sé (“IDK”)
  2. (text messaging, colloquial) short for no se