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Glite Dictionary
to hold one's nose

to hold one's nose

7.5
To do something unpleasant because it is necessary
  • idiom
  • Informal
: aguantar la respiración
  • She decided to hold her nose and complete the unpleasant task anyway.

Examples

Synonyms

to swallow
vsto hold one's nose
  • Informal
146 7.2

To accept something unpleasant without protest

accepts unpleasant things because they are necessary rather than by choice
to swallow the leek
vsto hold one's nose
  • Archaic
9.9

To accept something unpleasant during talks to avoid bigger problems

accepts unpleasant things because they are necessary rather than as humiliation

Antonyms

to enjoy
∞ 1.0

To feel happy because of something you do or see

to reject
839 1.9

Refuse to accept someone or something

How Willing

to grin and bear it
  • Informal
5 6.8
to hold one's nose
  • Informal
7.5
to hesitate
318 2.5

Surface Forms

hold one's nose infinitive
holding one's nose present participle
holds one's nose third person singular
held one's nose past
held one's nose past participle

Morphology

hold + one + nose

The phrase is a metaphorical extension of the literal action of holding one's nose to avoid a bad smell, so learners who know 'hold' and 'nose' can plausibly infer it means tolerating something unpleasant. However, the pragmatic sense of reluctantly accepting a necessary but distasteful choice is figurative and may not be fully predictable to a B1 learner without exposure or context.

Etymology

The idiom hold one's nose comes from literally holding your nose to keep out a bad smell. Because people do this to get through something unpleasant, the phrase now means 'to do or accept something unpleasant because it is necessary'.