potato nose
- noun
- Informal
:
nariz de patata
- He developed a potato nose after years of heavy drinking.
Examples
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Some people develop a potato nose due to underlying skin conditions or lifestyle choices.
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Over the years, the man's potato nose became more pronounced.
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His potato nose was instantly noticeable at parties.
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Some people refer to it as a potato nose.
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His red, swollen potato nose was a clear sign of his drinking problem.
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After years of drinking, he developed a noticeable potato nose that often embarrassed him in social situations.
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The doctor explained that a potato nose can be caused by both alcohol abuse and certain skin conditions.
Synonyms
A very large round nose with thick red skin and visible blood vessels
A skin problem that makes the nose thick, red, and swollen with small red lines
A large red nose with visible small blood vessels often caused by heavy drinking
A red, swollen nose with small red veins, often linked to heavy drinking
A red, swollen nose with small veins you can see after long heavy drinking
A red, swollen nose with small broken veins, often from heavy drinking
A nose that becomes large and red with visible veins from long heavy drinking
An enlarged red nose with visible blood vessels that often comes from heavy drinking
How Bulbous
Surface Forms
Morphology
potato + nose
The compound compares a nose to a potato, so a B1 learner who knows 'potato' and 'nose' can infer a nose that is swollen or bulbous from the literal imagery. However, the finer clinical or alcohol-related connotations (redness, visible blood vessels, disease associations) are not predictable from the constituents, so the meaning is only partially transparent.
Etymology
Potato nose comes from a simple picture: a nose that looks like a potato—round, bumpy and often red. So people call a nose that looks 'bigger' or 'round and bumpy' a potato nose, often when it is caused by skin problems or heavy drinking.