nosed

1. 1
   verb

   Simple past and past participle of nose.

   The ferry nosed gently against the dock as the passengers waited.

   Reporters nosed into every detail of the company's accounts.

   Note

   One form does both jobs: the ferry nosed in, and the ferry has nosed in. The construction tells you which verb lies behind it. Without an object it means edging forward or prying, often with around or into. With one it can mean sniffing something out, nuzzling it, or beating a rival by a whisker, often with out, as in a runner who nosed out the favorite.

2. 2
   adjectivein compounds

   Having a nose of a specified type, usually indicated by a descriptive word placed before it.

   The long-nosed monkey lives only in the forests of Borneo.

   A sharp-nosed terrier burrowed eagerly after the fox.

   Note

   A combining adjective that almost never stands alone. It needs a descriptive word in front, joined by a hyphen: red-nosed, as in Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer, or snub-nosed and hook-nosed. The compound is not graded the way ordinary adjectives are. It shares its spelling with the past tense of the verb, but the hyphenated first element makes the adjective easy to spot.

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