nose about
verb
nosed about; nosing about; noses about
British
: to search for something (such as private or hidden information) in usually a quiet or secret way
She caught him nosing about in her papers/office.
The police nosed about the property for a while, but they didn't find anything.
Examples of nose about in a Sentence
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The boys crashed inside, Zain throwing himself face down on a sofa still wearing his bloodied shirt, and Yazid nosing about looking for bandages and disinfectant.
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Daniyal Mueenuddin, New Yorker, 23 Nov. 2025
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Daniyal Mueenuddin, New Yorker, 23 Nov. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Nose about.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/nose%20about. Accessed 22 Apr. 2026.
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