to nose
- verb
- /noʊz/
- The detective began to nose around the suspect's apartment for any clues.
- to nose around
- a dog nosed
- to nose through trash
Examples
-
You saying you can't nose out some dope when it's around?
-
My cat loves to nose through the boxes in the attic, searching for hidden treasures.
-
Had there ever been a dog that did not nose into the trash bin sometime in its life?
Fiction book (1990) -
Clockie tried to nose his way into my pie, but I pushed him away.
Fiction book (1992) -
He's probably just nosing through the trash there.
-
Wolf was nosing around the inner organs; intestines were a favorite of his.
Fiction book (1990) -
The camel noses its way through the desert floor, coming across a few shrubs.
Fiction book (2002) -
In the stall, the horse was nosing at the last scatter of a flake of hay.
Fiction book (1993) -
Bernice bleated and began nosing in the grass for the spilled sweetening.
Fiction book (1993) -
A gang of large rats crawls through the tracks, nosing through balled-up paper bags, candy wrappers, and orange peels.
Fiction book (2002)
Synonyms
To notice a scent with your nose
Find something by searching, often by smell
To use the sense of smell to find something, often by animals
Find something after careful searching
To find something by smell or by careful searching
Antonyms
Idioms
- Informal
To show open disrespect by refusing to follow rules or customs
- Informal
To work hard for a long time on a difficult task without stopping
Deliberately do something that hurts you more than the person you want to punish
- Informal
To think about things beyond your own immediate needs
Phrasal Verbs
To move the nose so it makes small lines to show you do not like something
- Informal
To try to take part in other people's business without being asked
Compounds
- Specialized
The pointed front part of a rocket, missile, or plane that protects important parts and reduces air resistance during flight
A sudden steep fall that often happens to a plane with its front pointing down or to prices
- Specialized
An enlarged red nose with visible blood vessels that often comes from heavy drinking
- Archaic
A nose that becomes large and red with visible veins from long heavy drinking
How Well
Surface Forms
Etymology
The verb nose meaning 'search by smell' comes straight from the job of the nose (old nosu) to sniff and find things. So when an animal or person 'noses out' the truth, they are using a kind of smelling or close search to find it.