Log in or Sign up
  1. nostril love

Definitions

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

  1. n. Either of the external openings of the nose; a naris.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

  1. n. One of the external openings of the nose; a nasal orifice; a naris or narial aperture. The word is commonly restricted to the external opening. Nostrils are paired, but may be so united as to appear more or less as one. They usually present more or less directly forward, often sidewise, less frequently upward, seldom downward as in man. They are found in almost every shape that a hole can take, and details of their configuration and position often furnish zoölogical characters. In animals below mammals the nostrils are usually, if not always, motionless. In most mammals they are mobile, much more so than in man, being furnished with well-developed muscles for dilatation and contraction or even complete closure. Thus, among cetaceans and various other aquatic mammals the nostrils are perfectly valvular, guarding against the entrance of water. In those animals whose nose is a tactile organ the nostrils are sometimes fringed with processes like tentacles, as in the star-nosed mole. The nostrils of birds are often prominent horny tubes, as those of petrels and some goatsuckers. See cuts under bill, fulmar, and Condylura.
  2. n. Scent.

Wiktionary

  1. n. Either of the two orifices located on the nose (or on the beak of a bird); used as a passage for air and other gases to travel the nasal passages.

GNU Webster's 1913

  1. n. (Anat.) One of the external openings of the nose, which give passage to the air breathed and to secretions from the nose and eyes; one of the anterior nares.
  2. n. obsolete Perception; insight; acuteness.

WordNet 3.0

  1. n. either one of the two external openings to the nasal cavity in the nose

Etymologies

  1. From nose + thirl. (Wiktionary)
  2. Middle English nostrille, from Old English nosthyrl : nosu, nose; see nas- in Indo-European roots + thyrl, hole; see terə-2 in Indo-European roots. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)

Examples

  • “My nostril is pulled up a little but he says it'll go down as it heals. for those of you who haven't done it yet, if the the doctor offers you for something for pain, take it!”

    Mohs Nose Woes - Part 1

  • “It's bleeding a little periodically and my left nostril is totally swollen shut.”

    Mohs Nose Woes - Part 1

  • “One nostril is dripping what looks like grape juice onto the cell floor.”

    365 tomorrows » 2006 » October : A New Free Flash Fiction SciFi Story Every Day

  • “He eyed Mr. Chadber speculatively, holding a pinch of snuff to one thin nostril”

    The Black Moth: A Romance of the XVIII Century

  • “I think you call it nostril of his nose long, thin, fine.”

    The Shagganappi

  • “And at least one "nostril" -- never actually visible in the original Viking image -- is plain to be seen; while its origin remains an unanswered question, flatly refuting its existence smacks of a deliberate attempt to "make the Face go away" in the public mind.”

    Archive 2006-09-01

  • “It's a small duct that connects the inside corner of the eye to the nostril, which is also why your nose runs when you cry.”

    I really want to know.

  • “A wrinkle of the nostril was the only answer and a further delay ensued while a message was sent to the Scylla which demanded that His Excellency the Comte de Maquerre be allowed quarters on board the frigate or, preferably, the Vengeance.”

    Sharpe's Siege

  • “Inside the aperture of the nostril is a slight dilatation, the vestibule, bounded laterally by the ala and lateral crus of the greater alar cartilage, and medially by the medial crus of the same cartilage.”

    X. The Organs of the Senses and the Common Integument. 1b. The Organ of Smell

  • “The nostril is the large oval marking directly in front of the eye.”

    Animal Figures in the Maya Codices

Show 10 more examples...

Log in or sign up to add your own related words.

synonyms (12)

Words with the same meaning

  1. perception
  2. insight
  1. acuteness
  2. nose hole
  1. tunnel
  2. nare
  1. nares
  2. breather
  1. blowhole
  2. spiracle
  1. nosehole
  2. naris

hypernyms (1)

Words that are more generic or abstract

  1. naris

same context (20)

Words that are found in similar contexts

  1. eyelid
  2. nose
  3. forehead
  4. eyebrow
  1. snout
  2. cheekbone
  3. jaw
  4. palate
  1. paw
  2. throat
  3. muzzle
  4. whisker
  1. lung
  2. belly
  3. beak
  4. fang
  1. mane
  2. tooth
  3. wrist
  4. skull

reverse dictionary (32)

Words that contain this word in their definition

  1. thrill
  2. nare
  3. nariform
  4. nosethirl
  5. prænaris
  6. monorhinal
  1. narel
  2. ictalurinæ
  3. nasobuccal
  4. blowhole
  5. naris
  6. predilatator
  1. rhinarium
  2. chiloma
  3. lore
  4. nose
  5. ozena
  6. pomarine
  1. spiracle
  2. alinasal
  3. collyrium
  4. crotalidæ
  5. diadophis
  6. nasolabialis
  1. nose-hole
  2. pelias
  3. perforate
  4. pinna
  5. sneering-muscle
  6. eusuchia
  1. pit
  2. tunnel

tags (1)

Free-form, user-generated categorization

  1. cvcccvc

Log in or sign up to add your own tag.

Wordmap

(beta)

Word visualization

Lists

These user-created lists contain the word ‘nostril’.

More lists containing ‘nostril’

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.

  • chained_bear This is an icky word. But there's a fascinating nostril discussion over on dirhinic. Jul 28, 2009

  • yarb *sigh*. So romantic. Jan 16, 2008

  • super-julia and also brains through thy nostrils by means of an iron hook, no? Jan 16, 2008

  • yarb "Thou sendest forth the north wind at eventide, and breath from thy nostrils to the satisfaction of thy heart."

    - the Egyptian Book of the Dead Jan 16, 2008

Tweets

Looking for tweets for nostril.

‘nostril’ has been looked up 2050 times, loved by 1 person, added to 22 lists, commented on 4 times, and has a Scrabble score of 7.