Word.ws English Dictionary

noses to grindstones

noses to grindstones is the plural of nose to the grindstone.

Meaning of nose to the grindstone

Noun

nose to the grindstone (plural noses to the grindstone or noses to grindstones)

  1. (idiomatic, obsolete) Used to form idioms meaning "to force someone to work hard or to focus intensely upon their work".
    • This Text holdeth their noses so hard to the grynde stone that it clean disfigureth their faces.a. 1533, John Frith, A Mirrour or Glasse to Know Thyselfe, sig. Avi v
  2. (idiomatic) Used to form idioms meaning "to force oneself to work hard or to focus intensely upon one's work".
    • People whose heads are a little up in the world, have no occasion to keep their nose to the grindstone.1828, Lights & Shades of English Life, volume II, page 13

See all 3 meanings of nose to the grindstone

Questions about noses to grindstones

What is noses to grindstones the plural of?
Noses to grindstones is the plural of nose to the grindstone.

Words near noses to grindstones in the dictionary

  1. noses around
  2. noses of wax
  3. noses out
  4. noses out of joint
  5. noses over
  6. noses to grindstones
  7. noses to the grindstone
  8. noseshot
  9. noseslide
  10. noseslides
  11. nosesmart

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: noses to grindstones (page history and authors); nose to the grindstone (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.

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