nose
[nəʊ̯z]noun, verb
nose is spelled N-O-S-E: 4 letters and one syllable. It appears 32 times per million words in written English, the 2,941st most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, nose means “A protuberance on the face housing the nostrils, which are used to breathe or smell” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of nose is noses.
How many letters and syllables are in nose?
| Letters | 4: N-O-S-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 32 times per million words; the 2,941st most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Same letters |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is nose?
Nose appears 32 times per million words in written English, the 2,941st most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce nose?
- UK [nəʊ̯z]
- British [nəwz]
- [noːz]
Nose has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Back_ache-nose.wav, En-uk-nose.ogg, En-us-nose.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with nose?
No other word on PlainSpell ends in the same sounds as nose.
Spelled with the same letters in another order: ones, sone.
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of nose
- noses plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- nosing participle, present
- nosed participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does nose mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A protuberance on the face housing the nostrils, which are used to breathe or smell.
She had a small nose between two sparkling blue eyes.
- 2
A snout, the nose of an animal.
- 3
The tip of an object.
the nose of a tea-kettle, a bellows, or a fighter plane
- 4
The bulge on the side of a piece of a jigsaw puzzle, that fits into the hole of its adjacent piece.
- 5
The length of a horse’s nose, used to indicate the distance between horses at the finish of a race, or any very close race.
Red Rum only won by a nose.
- 6
A perfumer.
- 7
The sense of smell.
- 8
Bouquet, the smell of something, especially wine.
verb
- 1
To move cautiously by advancing its front end.
The ship nosed through the minefield.
- 2
To snoop.
She was nosing around other people’s business.
- 3
To detect by smell or as if by smell.
- 4
To push with one's nose; to nuzzle.
- 5
To defeat (as in a race or other contest) by a narrow margin; sometimes with out.
- 6
To utter in a nasal manner; to pronounce with a nasal twang.
to nose a prayer
- 7
To furnish with a nose.
to nose a stair tread
- 8
To confront; be closely face to face or opposite to.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Nose in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | nez , museau, gueule, trompe , excroissance |
| German | Nase , Schnauze, Rüssel , Nasenlänge , schnüffeln |
| Portuguese | nariz , focinho , olfato |
| Spanish | nariz, ñata, napia, napias, naso, narizotas |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does nose come from?
From Middle English nose, from Old English nosu, from Proto-West Germanic *nosu, variant of *nasō, old dual from Proto-Indo-European *néh₂s- ~ *nh₂es- (“nose, nostril”). See also Saterland Frisian Noose, West Frisian noas, Dutch neus, Swedish nos, Norwegian nos (“snout”), Low German Nääs, German Nase, Swedish näsa, Norwegian nese, Danish næse (“nose”); also Latin nāris (“nostril”), nāsus (“nose”), Lithuanian nósis, Russian нос (nos), Sanskrit नासा (nā́sā, “nostrils”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).