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.
ANSWER: We do vital research that shows the potential harms of online platforms, and we know that that puts the noses out of joint for some very powerful people.
From Barron's
It isn't just among the fly-halves that England have people out of position and noses out of joint.
From BBC
"I agree there is an issue of sorts and I see why it might put people's noses out of joint, but there has to be a compromise," she told the BBC.
From BBC
The party has soared during his tenure, but it is also true that the now former chairman put rather a lot of noses out of joint within Reform.
From BBC
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
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.
