nosing

verb

Definition of nosingnext
present participle of nose
1
as in sniffing
to become aware of by means of the sense organs in the nose could nose the garbage from across the street

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance
2
as in interfering
to interest oneself in what is not one's concern a neighbor who likes to nose around in everyone else's business

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in dragging
to move slowly the line to get tickets is just nosing, so we are going to be here for a while

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for nosing
  1. sniffing
  2. interfering
  3. dragging
  4. smelling
  5. messing
  6. crawling
  7. inhaling
  8. poking
Verb
  • While exploring the neighborhood, his dog, Betty, took off and sprinted through the open door of an empty house, sniffing around yet completely at ease.
    — Nina Corcoran, Pitchfork, 21 Oct. 2026
  • Eventually, Bird’s film — with a script co-written by Matthew Robbins — gets to the meat of the action when Venus’ extremely complicated life runs smack into Ray and his knack for sniffing out bad guys.
    — Kate Erbland, IndieWire, 10 Oct. 2026
Definition of sniffing
Verb
  • Trump trade adviser Peter Navarro also warned Canada last month against interfering in the midterms.
    — Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 24 Oct. 2026
  • Its inclusion in the documentary has provided ammunition for Musk supporters and his lawyers to discredit the film, pointing to an unfounded conspiracy theory about SpaceX’s Starlink satellites interfering in the election.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 12 Oct. 2026
Definition of interfering
Verb
  • Most damage to the undersea cables that form the Internet’s backbone is the result of accidents involving bottom-trawling fishing nets and ship anchors dragging on the seabed, with storms and undersea landslides also factoring in.
    — Jeremy Hsu, ArsTechnica, 28 Oct. 2026
  • There’s nothing neutral about dragging your feet, and a rigorous investigation of crimes is the only job of the Justice Department.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 26 Oct. 2026
Definition of dragging
Verb
  • This extends the concept beyond smelling an object remotely toward recreating aspects of a drinking experience.
    — Atharva Gosavi, Interesting Engineering, 24 Oct. 2026
  • But the idea of smelling like Dove soap didn’t appeal to me right off the bat.
    — James Manso, Allure, 23 Oct. 2026
Definition of smelling
Verb
  • There was something a little therapeutic about messing it up.
    — Adriane Quinlan, Curbed, 28 June 2026
  • No one can match her depth and passion to get vengeance on Krem of the Yellow Hills for messing with her family — a sentiment Cancers understand.
    — Lisa Stardust, PEOPLE, 26 June 2026
Definition of messing
Verb
  • On thinner material, that gives you a fighting chance at keeping heat and warpage under control without crawling along at a miserable pace.
    — New Atlas, New Atlas, 22 Oct. 2026
  • Prior to then, traffic was seen crawling on the eastbound side of the bridge heading into the city.
    — Jeff Capellini, CBS News, 21 Oct. 2026
Definition of crawling
Verb
  • Over time, inhaling these irritants can trigger chronic airway inflammation, irreversible lung tissue scarring, and obstructive pulmonary conditions.
    — Khloe Quill, FOXNews.com, 25 Oct. 2026
  • Without a mask, without fear of needing lung implants, without having to worry about inhaling a soupçon of strychnine or similar industrial pollutants.
    — Jeff Spry, Space.com, 21 Oct. 2026
Definition of inhaling
Verb
  • My physical study, on the floor, poking at what was there in the open field of the air, led to newfound levels of learning to process, in poems on the page, where my initial feelings of hunger came from.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 15 Oct. 2026
  • In a recent interview with OutKick Dropkick, Hefner was already poking the bear in hopes of getting eyes on his event.
    — Ryan Gaydos OutKick, FOXNews.com, 15 Oct. 2026
Definition of poking
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Browse Nearby Words

nosiness
nosing
nosing out
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Nosing.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/nosing. Accessed 29 Oct. 2026.

Copy Citation
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of shindig

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Pwn, Skibidi, Girlboss and Other Words Added to the 2026 Scrabble Dictionary

The Words of the Week - Oct. 30

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World
See More

Popular

See More

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
different halloween monsters in silhouette
A Monstrous Vocab Quiz Words That Go Bump in the Night
See All