nose out
Britishverb
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to discover by smelling
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to discover by cunning or persistence
the reporter managed to nose out a few facts
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informal to beat by a narrow margin
he was nosed out of first place by the champion
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Defeat by a narrow margin, as in She barely nosed out the incumbent . This expression, alluding to a horse's winning with its nose in front, has been used figuratively since the mid-1900s.
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Discover, especially something hidden or secret, as in This reporter has a knack for nosing out the truth . This usage alludes to following the scent of something. [Early 1600s]
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Mr Miller calls this a technology that is “only starting to poke its nose out behind the door” within different segments of the publishing industry.
From BBC • Sep. 16, 2024
“I will raise my children the way I want. They’re our children and it’s our choice. He needs to stick his nose out of our business.”
From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 2, 2024
“I think he should keep his nose out of Michigan politics.”
From Salon • May 22, 2024
“I had to punch a moose in the nose out there,” he told a camera crew, but didn’t offer other details.
From Seattle Times • Mar. 4, 2024
He must have seen the media coverage of my big operation when I was four and known that the doctors had made me a nose out of a toe.
From "Ugly" by Robert Hoge
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
