nose

Universal Words noun, verb noun 1 [C] the part of the face that sticks out above the mouth, used for breathing and smelling things: He broke his nose in the fight. * She wrinkled her nose in disgust. * He pressed his nose up against the window. * He blew his nose (= cleared it by blowing strongly into a HANDKERCHIEF). * a blocked / runny nose * Stop picking your nose! (= removing dirt from it with your finger) seealsoNASAL, ROMANNOSE 2 (-nosed) (in adjectives) having the type of nose mentioned: red-nosed * large-nosed seealsoHARD-NOSED, TOFFEE-NOSED 3 [C] the front part of a plane, spacecraft, etc: Heat detectors are fitted in the nose of the missile. 4 [sing.] a ~ for sth a special ability for finding or recognizing sth: As a journalist, she has always had a nose for a good story. 5 [sing.] a sense of smell: a dog with a good nose 6 [sing.] (of wine) a characteristic smell SYNBOUQUET seealsoPARSON'SNOSE IDIOMS cut off your nose to spite your face (informal) to do sth when you are angry that is meant to harm sb else but which also harms you get up sb's nose (BrE, informal) to annoy sb have your nose in sth (informal) to be reading sth and giving it all your attention: Peter always has his nose in a book. have a nose round (BrE, informal) to look around a place; to look for sth in a place: I'll have a nose round and see what I can find. keep your nose clean (informal) to avoid doing anything wrong or illegal: Since leaving prison, he's managed to keep his nose clean. keep your nose out of sth to try not to become involved in things that do not concern you keep your nose to the grindstone (informal) to work hard for a long period of time without stopping look down your nose at sb/sth (informal, especially BrE) to behave in a way that suggests that you think that you are better than sb or that sth is not good enough for you nose to tail (BrE) if cars, etc. are nose to tail, they are moving slowly in a long line with little space between them on the nose (informal, especially AmE) exactly: The budget should hit the $136 billion target on the nose. poke / stick your nose into sth (informal) to try to become involved in sth that does not concern you: He's always poking his nose into other people's business. put sb's nose out of joint (informal) to upset or annoy sb, especially by not giving them enough attention turn your nose up at sth (informal) to refuse sth, especially because you do not think that it is good enough for you under sb's nose (informal) 1 if sth is under sb's nose, it is very close to them but they cannot see it: I searched everywhere for the letter and it was under my nose all the time! 2 if sth happens under sb's nose, they do not notice it even though it is not being done secretly: The police didn't know the drugs ring was operating right under their noses. with your nose in the air (informal) in a way that is unfriendly and suggests that you think that you are better than other people moreatFOLLOW, LEAD٠v., PAYv., PLAINadj., POWDERv., RUBv., SKINn., THUMBv. verb 1 [+adv./prep.] to move forward slowly and carefully: [V] The plane nosed down through the thick clouds. * [VN] The taxi nosed its way back into the traffic. 2 [V+adv./prep.] (of an animal) to search for sth or push sth with its nose: Dogs nosed around in piles of refuse. PHRASALVERBS nose about / around (for sth) to look for sth, especially information about sb: We found a man nosing around in our backyard. nose sth<->out (informal) to discover information about sb/sth by searching for it: Reporters nosed out all the details of the affair.