nuzzle
Syllables: nuz·zle/ˈnʌzl̩/US/ˈnʌz(ə)l/
nuzzle verb: to push or thrust (the nose or snout, face or muzzle, or head, or an object) against or into something.
Verb (1)
nuzzle (third-person singular simple present nuzzles, present participle nuzzling, simple past and past participle nuzzled)
- To push or thrust (the nose or snout, face or muzzle, or head, or an object) against or into something.
- [T]he Dogge nuſling his noſe vnder the necke of the Deare, the Wolfe glad to let the Lambe lye vpon hym to kéepe him warme, the Lyon ſuffering the Aſſe to caſt hys legge ouer him: preferring one honeſt vnmannerly friende, before a number of croutching picke-thankes.1594, Tho[mas] Nashe, “The Vnfortunate Traueller”, in The Vnfortunate Traueller. Or, The Life of Iacke Wilton, London: […] T. Scarlet for C[uthbert] Burby, […], →OCLC
- Shee [Wisdom] nuzzleth her ſelfe in his [the scholar's] boſom, cheriſheth his ſoule, lifts-vp his lovve-groueling thoghts as high as Heauen: […]1611, [Anthony] Stafford, Staffords Niobe: Or His Age of Teares. The First Part. […], 2nd edition, London: […] Humfrey Lownes [for Matthew Lownes], →OCLC, pages 199–200
- To rub or touch (someone or something) with the nose, face, etc., or an object.
- The horse nuzzled its foal’s head gently to wake him up.
- She nuzzled her girlfriend in the cinema.
- Chiefly of an animal: to dig (something, especially food) out of the ground using the nose or snout; to root.
- Often followed by in or into: to press or push the nose or snout, mouth, face, etc., against or into someone or something; to touch someone or something with the nose or snout, etc.
- The bird nuzzled up to the wires of the cage.
- Tis true, tis true, thus vvas Adonis ſlaine, / He ran vpon the Boare vvith his ſharpe ſpeare, / VVho vvould not vvhet his teeth at him againe, / But by a kiſſe thought to perſvvade him there. / And nouſling in his flanke the louing ſvvine, / Sheath'd vnavvare his tuske in his ſoft groine.1594, [William Shakespeare], Venus and Adonis, 2nd edition, London: […] Richard Field, […], →OCLC, [verse 186], signature [Giv], recto, lines [1111–1116]
- Chiefly of an animal: to push the nose or snout into the ground to dig for something, especially food; to root, to rootle.
- The male pigges following the damme, doe commonly ſcatter further abroade than the females doe, and will nouzle and turne vp the ground tenne or twelue paces further off from their dãmes than yͤ females do, […]1575, Jacques du Fouilloux, “The Difference betweene the Male, and the Female”, in George Gascoigne, transl., The Noble Art of Venerie or Hunting. […], London: […] Thomas Purfoot, published 1611...
- For either they be puffed vp vvith pride, / Or fraught vvith enuie that their galls do ſvvell, / Or they their dayes to ydleneſſe diuide, / Or drovvnded lie in pleaſures vvaſtefull vvell, / In vvhich like Moldvvarps [i.e., moles] nouſling ſtill they lurke, / Vnmyndfull of chiefe parts of...1595, Ed. Spencer [i.e., Edmund Spenser], Colin Clouts Come Home Againe, London: […] T[homas] C[reede] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, signature D3, verso
- Followed by down: to settle or lie comfortably and snugly in a bed, nest, etc.; to nestle.
- Intemperance therefore according to Cicero, is ſuch a kind of obedience vnto luſts, meerely repugnant to the right mind, and vnto all preſcription of reaſon, that the priuate deſires can neither be gouerned nor contained in any moderation; and thereof are tvvo parts: one vvhich exceſſiuely nuzzleth...1606, Barnabe Barnes, “The First Booke of Offices”, in Foure Bookes of Offices: Enabling Privat Persons for the Speciall Seruice of All Good Princes and Policies, London: […] [Adam Islip] at the...
- [T]h' abſtruſeſt things / VVhich in the Mind's dark Temper nuzling lie, / By you expoſed are to every eye.1702, Joseph Beaumont, “Canto XX. The Mortification. Stanza 210.”, in Charles Beaumont, editor, Psyche, or Love’s Mystery, […], 2nd edition, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: […] University-Press, for...
- Synonyms:
- snuzzle
- Chiefly followed by up or with: to press affectionately against someone or something; to nestle, to snuggle.
- [W]ill your reſt / ſeme ſvveeter, if I nuzzle on your breſt?1637, Tho[mas] Heywood, “Iupiter and Ganimede”, in Pleasant Dialogues and Dramma’s, Selected out of Lucian, Erasmus, Textor, Ovid, &c. […], London: […] R. O[ulton] for R. H[earne], and are to be sold...
- Making some inarticulate whimper of communication, it [the baby] nuzzled up to her, its eyes closed, but its head working against her bosom with the instinct of suckling, though it had never sucked.1894 January–July, Hall Caine, chapter XIV, in The Manxman, London: William Heinemann, published 3 August 1894 (1 September 1894 printing), →OCLC, part IV (Man and Wife), page 255
- To come into close contact with someone or something.
- It was nearly all downhill into Shrewsbury, with two intermediate stops, and a grand sequence of long curves around which Soult nuzzled her way with a quick side-to-side action.1951 October, R. S. McNaught, “Lines of Approach”, in The Railway Magazine, London: Tothill Press, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 706
- To feel or probe with the fingers.
- The Professor […] [f]eels thorax and arm, and nuzzles round among muscles as those horrid old women poke their fingers into the salt-meat on the provision-stalls at the Quincy Market.1859, Oliver Wendell Holmes, The Professor at the Breakfast-table; with The Story of Iris, Boston, Mass.: Ticknor and Fields, published 1860, →OCLC, page 248
Noun
nuzzle (plural nuzzles)
- An act of nuzzling (all verb senses).
Verb (2)
nuzzle (third-person singular simple present nuzzles, present participle nuzzling, simple past and past participle nuzzled)
- Often followed by up or with': to nurture or train (oneself or someone) to act a certain way, have certain beliefs, etc.
- Yf any man therfore vſe the ſcripture to drawe the [thee] from Chriſte and to noſell the [thee] in any thinge ſave in Chriſte / the ſame is a falſe prophete.1528 October 12 (Gregorian calendar), William Tyndale, “The .IIIJ. Senses of yͤ Scripture”, in The Obediẽce of a Christen Man […], [Antwerp]: [Johannes Hoochstraten], →OCLC, folio cxlj, verso
- [S]ome turne agayne by grace frõ their deadly hereſies into yͤ life of faith, ⁊ ſome be ſo ſore nowſeled in the falſe hereſies, ⁊ in their obſtinate frowardneſſe take ſuch a deueliſhe delight, yͭ finally thei die therin as did Baifield, Bainã, ⁊ Tewkeſbury.1532, Thomas More, “The Confutacion of [William] Tyndale’s Aunswere […]. The Maner and Order of Our Eleccion.”, in Wyllyam Rastell [i.e., William Rastell], editor, The Workes of Sir Thomas More...
- Chiefly followed by up: to bring up (someone); to foster, to rear; also, to educate (someone); to train.
- This onely they beſought at their hands, and admoniſhed them of, by vvay of a proviſo, they they vvould take order for the ſafetie and ſecuritie of their perſons: and not by ſheading their bloud, to fleſh the Commons, and to nuzzle them up, and acquaint them vvith exerciſing crueltie upon the...1600, T[itus] Livius [i.e., Livy], “[Book III]”, in Philemon Holland, transl., The Romane Historie […], London: […] Adam Islip, →OCLC, page 123
- To care for (someone) affectionately; to hold dear (someone); to cherish, to nurse; also, to provide (someone or something) a comfortable and snug place to settle or lie (compare etymology 1, verb etymology 1, verb sense 2.3).
- For if Birhena could haue held him backe, / From Venus Court where he now nouſled was, / His luſtie limbes had neuer found the lacke / Of manly ſhape: […]1573, George Gascoigne, “Three Sonets in Sequence, Written vppon this Occasion”, in A Hundreth Sundrie Flowres Bounde up in One Small Poesie. […], London: […] [Henry Bynneman and Henry Middleton for]...
- [F]rom his birth, being hugged in the armes, / And nuzzled tvvixt the breaſtes of happineſſe1600 or 1601 (date written), I. M. [i.e., John Marston], “The Prologue”, in Antonios Reuenge. The Second Part. […], London: […] [Richard Bradock] for Thomas Fisher, and are to be soulde [by Matthew...
nuzzle meaning in Urdu, Bengali and Malayalam
nuzzle in Urdu
- چمٹ کر بیٹھنا, ناک گھسیڑنا, رگڑنا, ناک سے بل بنانا, ناک سے کھودنا, پالنا
nuzzle in Bengali
- নাক দিয়ে চাপ দেওয়া
nuzzle in Malayalam
- prod, nudge, nose
- മൂക്കിട്ടുരയ്ക്കുക, മൂക്കുകൊണ്ട് ഉരുമ്മുക, മോന്തകൊണ്ടു കുത്തുക, മുട്ടുക, മുമ്പോട്ടുന്തുക, കെെമുട്ടുകൊണ്ടു തട്ടുക
- nestle, snuggle, cuddle
- പറ്റിക്കിടക്കുക, ചേർന്നുകിടക്കുക, പറ്റിച്ചേർന്നുകിടക്കുക, പുണരുക, പുൽകുക, കെട്ടിപ്പിടിക്കുക
Examples of nuzzle in a sentence
- Then at the Play-Houſe ye ogle the Boxes, and dop and bovv to thoſe you do not knovv, as vvell as thoſe you do. […] You nuzzle your Noſes into their Hoods and Commodes, […]1693, [Thomas] d’Urfey, The Richmond Heiress: Or, A Woman Once in the Right. A Comedy, […], London: […] Samuel Briscoe, […], →OCLC, Act II...
- The red mare ran to the Colonel's son, and nuzzled against his breast; […]1889, Rudyard Kipling, “The Ballad of East and West”, in Barrack-Room Ballads and Other Verses, 3rd edition, London: Methuen & Co. […]...
- In every store window flameth housegown, nuzzleth slipper.1953 December, Hortense Calisher, “A Christmas Carillon: A Story”, in John Fischer, editor, Harper’s Magazine, volume 207, number 1243, New...
Synonyms of nuzzle
Forms of nuzzle
| Verb | |
|---|---|
| third-person singular present | nuzzles |
| present participle | nuzzling |
| past participle | nuzzled |
| past | nuzzled |
| alternative form | nosel |
| alternative form | nousel |
| alternative form | nousle |
| alternative form | nowsle |
| alternative form | nusle |
| second-person singular present (archaic) | nuzzlest |
| second-person singular past (archaic) | nuzzledst |
| third-person singular present (archaic) | nuzzleth |
| Noun | |
| plural | nuzzles |
Origin of nuzzle
The verb is derived from Middle English noselen (“to bend down”); further etymology uncertain, possibly: * a back-formation from noseling, noselyng (“on the back, supine; with the face downward, prone”, adverb), from nose (“nose”) (from Old English nosu, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *néh₂s (“nose”)) + -ling, -lyng (suffix forming adverbs denoting direction, manner, or position); or * from nose (see above) + -el, -elen (diminutive or frequentative suffix) (in which case the English word is, by surface analysis, nose + -le (frequentative suffix)). Etymology 1, verb sense 2.3 (“to settle or lie comfortably and snugly”) is possibly influenced by nestle or nursle (frequentative of nurse). The noun is derived from the verb. Compare nozzle.
Origin uncertain; appears to have a separate origin from nuzzle (etymology 1) due to the different meanings, but probably influenced by that word.
Words formed from nuzzle
Words that rhyme with nuzzle
Questions about nuzzle
- What does nuzzle mean?
- Nuzzle means to push or thrust (the nose or snout, face or muzzle, or head, or an object) against or into something.
- What is nuzzle in Urdu?
- Nuzzle in Urdu is چمٹ کر بیٹھنا, ناک گھسیڑنا, رگڑنا. See Nuzzle meaning in Urdu.
- How do you use nuzzle in a sentence?
- Then at the Play-Houſe ye ogle the Boxes, and dop and bovv to thoſe you do not knovv, as vvell as thoſe you do. […] You nuzzle your Noſes into their Hoods and Commodes, […]
- What part of speech is nuzzle?
- Nuzzle can be a verb or a noun.
- How do you pronounce nuzzle?
- Nuzzle is pronounced /ˈnʌzl̩/ (UK).
- What is the past tense of nuzzle?
- The past tense of nuzzle is nuzzled.
Words near nuzzle in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: nuzzle (page history and authors); nuzzle (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); nuzzle (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); nuzzle (Olam, E.K. Kurup corpus) (dataset and license). 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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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-nuzzle.wav.
Cite this entry: “nuzzle.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/nuzzle. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.