# nose

Pronunciation: say "NOHZ" US /noʊz/, UK /nəʊz/

## Noun

1. The part of the face of a person or animal that projects above the mouth, contains the nostrils, and is used for breathing and smelling.
   - Simple: The part of a person's or animal's face above the mouth that you breathe and smell through.
   - _He broke his nose during the football game._
   - _Her nose turned bright red after an hour in the freezing wind._
2. The pointed or projecting front end of an object.
   - Simple: The front or pointed end of something.
   - _The nose of the jet sliced cleanly through the clouds._
   - _Engineers reinforced the nose of the submarine against pressure._
3. The bouquet or aroma of something, especially a wine.
   - Simple: The smell of something, especially the smell of wine.
   - _Critics praised the wine's complex nose of cherry and oak._
   - _On the nose, the whisky offers clear notes of smoke and dried fruit._
4. The sense of smell, especially a trained ability to detect and identify aromas, as in wine or perfume.
   - Simple: The ability to smell things, especially a trained skill for recognizing smells in wine or perfume.
   - _She has such a sharp nose that she can smell burning toast from two floors up._
   - _The hound's nose led the team straight to the missing hiker._
5. An instinctive talent for discovering information or detecting what is significant.
   - Simple: A natural skill for finding out useful information.
   - _The detective's nose for inconsistencies eventually cracked the case._
   - _Years on the beat gave her an unerring nose for a breaking story._
9. A winning margin equal to the length of a horse's nose, marking the closest finish in a race.
   - Simple: A very small distance between horses at the finish of a race, about the length of a horse's nose.
   - _The colt edged ahead to win by a nose in a photo finish._
   - _She lost the championship race by a nose after leading the whole way._
13. An act of snooping or prying; a look around to find things out.
   - Simple: A quick look around to find things out.
   - _He couldn't resist a nose through his coworker's desk drawers._
   - _A quick nose around the shed turned up the keys we had lost._
14. A skilled expert who designs and composes perfumes.
   - Simple: A person whose job is to create perfumes.
   - _The house hired a celebrated nose to develop its signature fragrance._
   - _As a nose, he could blend hundreds of essences from memory._
15. The rounded bulge on a jigsaw piece that fits into the matching hole of the adjacent piece.
   - Simple: The small round part that sticks out from a puzzle piece and fits into the next piece.
   - _He gently worked the nose of the corner piece into its neighbor._
   - _Most jigsaw pieces have at least one nose that locks into a matching hole on a neighboring piece._

## Verb

6. To pry or snoop into matters that don't concern one.
   - Simple: To look into things that are not your business.
   - _Reporters nosed around the abandoned warehouse looking for clues._
   - _She tends to nose into conversations that have nothing to do with her._
7. Of a vehicle or vessel, to move forward slowly or carefully, front first, in a particular direction.
   - Simple: To move forward slowly and carefully with the front going first, like a car or boat.
   - _The ship nosed slowly through the fog-bound harbor._
   - _Tanks nose carefully along the cratered road, wary of mines._
8. To defeat a rival by a very narrow margin, frequently together with the particle out.
   - Simple: To beat someone by just a tiny amount.
   - _The favorite nosed out the underdog by half a length._
   - _On the final lap, the young driver managed to nose out last year's winner by a fraction of a second._
10. To detect or perceive something by smell, or as though by smell.
   - Simple: To find or notice something by smell, or in a way that is like smelling.
   - _At the airport, trained dogs nose out fruit and meat that travelers forget to declare._
   - _Within a week, the young reporter had nosed out the real reason the mayor resigned._
11. To plunge downward at a steep angle, nose first.
   - Simple: To drop suddenly downward at a steep angle, front first.
   - _The fighter nosed into a steep dive to evade the missile._
   - _The small plane stalled over the hills and began to nose sharply toward the valley floor._
12. To push or nuzzle something with the nose.
   - Simple: To gently push something with the nose.
   - _The horse nosed the latch open and escaped its stall._
   - _Seals nose the ice as they search for breathing holes._
16. To furnish or fit something with a nose or nose-shaped front part.
   - Simple: To fit something with a nose or front piece.
   - _Before installing the stairs, the carpenter nosed each tread with a rounded strip of hardwood._
   - _On deck stairs, builders often nose each tread with rubber edging to keep people from slipping._

## Other meanings

- (noun) A person who secretly gives information about criminals to the police.
- (verb) To pronounce words with a nasal tone or twang.
- (verb) To stand directly facing something or someone; to confront face to face.
- (noun) On a building, a molded element that projects downward from a cornice.

## Origin

"Nose" comes from Middle English "nose," from Old English "nosu," going back through Proto-West Germanic to a Proto-Indo-European root meaning "nose" or "nostril." It is related to Dutch "neus," German "Nase," Latin "nāsus" (nose) and "nāris" (nostril), Lithuanian "nósis," Russian "нос," and Sanskrit "nā́sā."

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/nose (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).