nosh

American  

[nosh] / nɒʃ /

verb (used without object)

• noshes,
  present (3rd person singular)
• noshed,
  past participle,  past
• noshing
  present participle

1. to snack or eat between meals.

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verb (used with object)

• noshes,
  present (3rd person singular)
• noshed,
  past participle,  past
• noshing
  present participle

1. to snack on.

   They noshed peanuts and cookies while watching television.

noun

1. a snack.

nosh British  

/ nɒʃ /

noun

1. food or a meal

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verb

1. to eat

Usage

What does nosh mean? Nosh means to eat, especially by snacking, as in When I work from home it’s hard not to nosh all day. It also means to munch on or snack on something, as in I’m getting a little hungry, so I’m just going to nosh on crackers to tide me over until dinner. It can also be a noun meaning a snack, as in Let’s have a little nosh before the movie.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• nosher
  noun

Inflected Forms

Participles

• noshing
  present
• noshed
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• nosh
  simple
• noshes
  simple
• have noshed
  perfect
• has noshed
  perfect
• am noshing
  progressive
• are noshing
  progressive
• is noshing
  progressive
• have been noshing
  perfect progressive
• has been noshing
  perfect progressive

Past

• noshed
  simple
• had noshed
  perfect
• was noshing
  progressive
• were noshing
  progressive
• had been noshing
  perfect progressive

Future

• will nosh
  simple
• will have noshed
  perfect
• will be noshing
  progressive
• will have been noshing
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of nosh

1955–60; < Yiddish nashn; Middle High German naschen, Old High German nascōn to nibble, gnaw; cognate with Danish naske, Swedish snaska

Explanation

To nosh is to have a snack. You might nosh on a slice of cold pizza and a handful of chocolate chips after school. Many people like to nosh on popcorn while watching movies, and you could nosh on the cookies you baked for the school bake sale. You can also call a meal a nosh, especially if it's just a snack: "Let's have a nosh before we head back out on the hiking trail." Nosh comes from the Yiddish word -nashn, "nibble," and its earliest use in English, around 1917, was as a shortened form of nosh-house, or "restaurant."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

nosh noshes noshed noshing

So make sure you’re washing your vegetables, and anything you leave outside that you might nosh on later.

From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 20, 2025

Members can nosh on Moroccan Mediterranean fare from Cafe Mogador in the “living room” of the space.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 19, 2025

Pints sling across the counter to construction workers wearing ski pants, while windburned teenagers — Lessar and his pals — nosh chicken barbecue pizza and play Battleship.

From Seattle Times ● Apr. 8, 2023

The honor of the pre-dinner nosh, meanwhile, usually falls to charcuterie, a category of cooked or cured meat like dry-aged ham, potted pâté, or rillettes.

From Salon ● Feb. 20, 2023

“Excellent nosh, Petunia. It’s normally just a fry-up for me of an evening, with twelve dogs to look after....”

From "Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban" by J.K. Rowling

With respect to the players, some of D.C.’s best chefs and restaurants also shared the spotlight, featuring mostly light, refreshing bites — many seafood inspired — with a couple of comfort food noshes mixed in.

From Washington Times ● Jul. 31, 2023

But the dishes were imaginative with a narrative thread that speaks to our local seasons — root veggies, koji and fermented noshes during the dark of winter and, now, asparagus and other bounties of spring.

From Seattle Times ● Apr. 23, 2022

Marvin sat low in a wheelchair at one end of a table piled with shrimp, grapes and other noshes.

From New York Times ● Nov. 17, 2021

All I know is that my three favorites noshes in 2019 came from the hands of women.

From Washington Post ● Dec. 20, 2019

By 4 p.m., the food happy hour kicks in, with $3-$6 noshes from salt cod beignets to truffle parmesan fries.

From Seattle Times ● Nov. 5, 2019

Sandwiched between laborers, he noshed on a cheeseburger as caterers circled the area with platters of hot dogs and steamed lobster.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 17, 2025

The neighborhoods' smallest residents noshed on hallacas, leaving their faces caked in the crumbs.

From Reuters ● Dec. 23, 2022

The two couples noshed on Hawaiian food before donning their dress clothes and then piled into Perez’s Honda Accord.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 14, 2022

The lively bar felt like a different galaxy in August as a mixed crowd noshed on innovative dishes like vegan Reuben sandwiches, Vietnamese-style wings and sipped throwback RC Cola.

From Seattle Times ● Oct. 2, 2022

And on trips to the island as a kid, I had patties in Kingston that were noshed on the go after crossing three lanes of rush-hour traffic on foot.

From New York Times ● Feb. 23, 2022

People leaned on white-tiled counters while noshing on their tacos.

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 14, 2024

When the doors opened, they swarmed inside, ordering doughnuts by the dozen to take out, or noshing at bistro tables in a cafe-style setting.

From New York Times ● Dec. 7, 2023

Alaska’s most-watched popularity contest, Fat Bear Week involves residents picking their favorite fat brown bear who’s been stocking up for winter by noshing on salmon in Katmai National Park & Preserve.

From Seattle Times ● Sep. 29, 2023

The digital rendition of Venus, goddess of love, based on Sandro Botticelli’s Renaissance masterpiece “Birth of Venus,” can be seen noshing on pizza and snapping selfies for her Instagram page.

From Washington Times ● May 6, 2023

The advice which Roland Clewe gave to Samuel Block was simple enough and perhaps unnecessary, but there was noshing else for him to say.

From The Great Stone of Sardis by Frank Richard Stockton