Word.ws English Dictionary

lead by the nose

lead by the nose verb: to cause to follow blindly.

Verb

lead by the nose (third-person singular simple present leads by the nose, present participle leading by the nose, simple past and past participle led by the nose)

  1. (figuratively, idiomatic) To cause to follow blindly.
    • let him choose well his referendaries , for else he may be led by the nose1625, Francis [Bacon], “Of Suitors”, in The Essayes […], 3rd edition, London: […] Iohn Haviland for Hanna Barret, →OCLC
    • Because he was outorganized, Hutchinson cries foul. Sorry, but I simply cannot accept his view that Alliance members are mindless lackeys lead by the nose by the "leadership."1983 December 24, Eric E. Rofes, “On Growing Pains”, in Gay Community News, volume 11, number 23, page 5
  2. (figuratively, idiomatic) To lead by example and painstaking explanation, as one might do for remedial teaching.
    • We had to lead some users by the nose because they couldn't understand even the simplest instructions.

lead by the nose meaning in Urdu and Thai

lead by the nose in Urdu

ہاتھ میں باگ ہونا, ناک پکڑ کر چلانا, قابو میں رکھنا, تابع رکھنا

lead by the nose in Thai

Translations
จูงจมูก juung-jà-mùuk

Synonyms of lead by the nose

Forms of lead by the nose

third-person singular presentleads by the nose
present participleleading by the nose
past participleled by the nose
pastled by the nose

Origin of lead by the nose

The figurative senses are metaphorical extensions from the literal sense of leading a livestock animal by grabbing its nose or nose ring (with the latter hooked to a lead) or by pushing its nose into feed or water to encourage it to eat or drink.

Questions about lead by the nose

What does lead by the nose mean?
Lead by the nose means to cause to follow blindly.
What is lead by the nose in Urdu?
Lead by the nose in Urdu is ہاتھ میں باگ ہونا, ناک پکڑ کر چلانا, قابو میں رکھنا. See Lead by the nose meaning in Urdu.
What part of speech is lead by the nose?
Lead by the nose is a verb.
What is the past tense of lead by the nose?
The past tense of lead by the nose is led by the nose.

Words near lead by the nose in the dictionary

  1. lead around by the nose
  2. lead astray
  3. lead balloon
  4. lead balloons
  5. lead by example
  6. lead by the nose
  7. lead carbonate
  8. lead carbonates
  9. lead chamber process
  10. lead chamber processes
  11. lead character

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: lead by the nose (page history and authors); lead by the nose (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-au-lead by the nose.ogg.

Cite this entry: “lead by the nose.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/lead_by_the_nose. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.