look down one's nose at

look

L l

Transcription

- US Pronunciation
- US IPA
- [loo k]
- /lʊk daʊn wʌnz noʊz æt/

- US Pronunciation
- US IPA
- [loo k]
- /lʊk daʊn wʌnz noʊz æt/

Definitions of look down one's nose at words

verb without object look down one's nose at to smell or sniff. 1
verb without object look down one's nose at to seek as if by smelling or scent: The dogs nosed after their quarry. 1
verb without object look down one's nose at to move or push forward: to nose into the wind. 1
verb without object look down one's nose at to meddle or pry (often followed by about, into, etc.): They are always nosing about in other people's business. 1
verb with object look down one's nose at to perceive by or as by the nose or the sense of smell: a cheese that could be nosed at some distance. 1
verb with object look down one's nose at to approach the nose to, as in smelling or examining; sniff. 1

See all 36 definitions of look down one's nose at

Information block about the term

Origin of look down one's nose at

First appearance:

before 900

One of the 4% oldest English words

before 900; (v.) Middle English lōk(i)en, Old English lōcian; cognate with Middle Dutch lœken, akin to dialectal German lugen to look out; (noun) Middle English loke act of looking, glance, countenance, derivative of the v.

Historical Comparancy

Parts of speech for Look down one's nose at

noun

adjective

verb

adverb

pronoun

preposition

conjunction

determiner

exclamation

Full grammatical hierarchy of Look down one's nose at

look down one's nose at popularity

A common word. It’s meaning is known to most children of preschool age. About 99% of English native speakers know the meaning and use the word.

Most Europeans know this English word. The frequency of it’s usage is somewhere between "mom" and "screwdriver".

Matching words

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