Dictionary

nose around en · VERB

Meanings

1. (idiomatic, informal) To snoop around; to discreetly or covertly search or examine a place or situation.
   • The state had no business nosing around in people's sexual lives. 2004 June 10, Leslie Feinberg, “The love that dared to speak its name”, in Workers World:
2. (idiomatic, informal) To browse; to look at, especially to satisfy one's curiosity.
   • If you just want to nose around, guided tours are given on Saturday mornings at 10.30 […] 2023, Emma Thomson, John Ruler, World War I Battlefields: A Travel Guide to the Western Front, →ISBN, page 80:
   • Consider the West Village before you say no. You know you like nosing around the little bookshops and cafés there. 2009, Hanif Kureishi, Something to Tell You, →ISBN, page 313:
   • As you may now realise, it has become my habit to get a feel of a racecourse by nosing around the local churches. 2004, Stephen Cartmell, Racing Around Britain, →ISBN, page 140:
3. (informal) Of an animal, to explore using the nose.
   • Storm sprang onto the bed and nosed around her with his whiskers. We've got to do this, she thought as she fingered the kitten's striped fur. 2013, Deborah Bedford, Blessing, →ISBN, page 142:
   • The tiger nosed around in the weeds for a while, but soon returned to its original hiding place, presumably to mull over what it had learned. 1993, Barry Reynolds, John Berryman, Pike on the Fly: The Flyfishing Guide to Northerns, Tigers, and Muskies, →ISBN, page 19:
   • We lay quietly while the bear nosed around outside only two feet away from our heads, then wandered away. 1989 May, Jeff MacInnis, “Braving the Northwest Passage”, in National Geographic, volume 175, number 5, page 599:
   • Jake came up to the stall and stroked his neck while Jasper nosed around Jake's coat pocket. "What're you after, boy?" Jake cooed. 2023, J. D. Arnold, Rawhide Jake: Learning the Ropes, →ISBN:

Forms

Relateds

nose about