nose out

Verb

nose out (third-person singular simple present noses out, present participle nosing out, simple past and past participle nosed out)

1. (informal, transitive) To find using one's sense of smell.
   • Trained to nose out anything from a hidden handgun to a cache of dynamite, the dogs are employed to check important trains like Rajdhani Express or Ashram Express when they arrive at the platform.2011 September 12, Yogesh Avasthi, “It’s a dog’s life for railway sniffers”, in Ahmedabad Mirror
   • In the second place, do sharks really follow ships, when there are corpses on board, more than they do at other times ? and if so, by what particular organisation does a fish in the water continue to nose out the particular origin and direction of an effluvium...1837, Charles F. Partington, The british cyclopedia of natural history

   Synonyms:

   sniff out

2. (figuratively, informal, transitive) To find by searching.

   Synonyms:

   sniff out

3. (informal, transitive) To defeat by a small margin.
   • We were nosed out for the pennant that year,1916 March 11, Charles E. Van Loan, “His Folks”, in Saturday Evening Post
   • Rashnaa nosed out Amiable Grace to finish a distant third in a field reduced to seven after the scratches of Comic Marvel and Dance to the Moon...2011 September 3, Ron Gierkink, “Atlantic Hurricane beats Embur's Song”, in ESPN

   Synonyms:

   edge out