nose out

verb

nosed out; nosing out; noses out

transitive verb

1

: to discover often by prying

2

: to defeat or surpass by a narrow margin

Synonyms

• ascertain
• descry
• detect
• determine
• dig out
• dig up
• discover
• dredge (up)
• ferret (out)
• find
• find out
• get
• hit (on or upon)
• hunt (down or up)
• learn
• locate
• root (out)
• rout (out)
• rummage
• run down
• scare up
• scout (up)
• track (down)
• turn up

Examples of nose out in a Sentence

independent investigators eventually nosed out proof of White House wrongdoing

Recent Examples on the Web

Alligators tilt their noses out of the water to enable them to breathe in case the water freezes, according to the Swamp Park & Outdoor Center, a tourist attraction in North Carolina that lets people see alligators in their natural habitats. —Ryan Maxin, Austin American-Statesman, 24 Jan. 2024

Gotham/Getty/GC Images A listing photo shows how the house noses out over the beach even farther than its neighbors. —Adriane Quinlan, Curbed, 28 Aug. 2024

In 2009, her own dog, Daisy, nudged her repeatedly in the chest, nosing out a lump that turned out to be breast cancer. —Megan Molteni, WIRED, 30 Oct. 2018

Australians, the thinking goes, should keep their noses out of China’s business, both inside its borders and around its coastlines, and accept that the future Asian order will be centered on Beijing. —Michael Fullilove, Foreign Affairs, 15 Aug. 2017

Word History

First Known Use

1795, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

nose out

verb

: to defeat by a narrow margin

the home team barely nosed out the visitors