Word: nuzzle Part of Speech: verb Etymology: 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. Pronunciation: /ˈnʌzl̩/, /ˈnʌz(ə)l/, [ˈnʌzɫ̩] 1. To push or thrust (the nose or snout, face or muzzle, or head, or an object) against or into something. Labels: transitive Example: [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. Example: Shee [Wisdom] nuzzleth her ſelfe in his [the scholar's] boſom, cheriſheth his ſoule, lifts-vp his lovve-groueling thoghts as high as Heauen: […] 2. To rub or touch (someone or something) with the nose, face, etc., or an object. Labels: transitive Example: The horse nuzzled its foal’s head gently to wake him up. Example: She nuzzled her girlfriend in the cinema. 3. Chiefly of an animal: to dig (something, especially food) out of the ground using the nose or snout; to root. Labels: transitive 4. 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. Labels: intransitive Example: The bird nuzzled up to the wires of the cage. Example: 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. 5. Chiefly of an animal: to push the nose or snout into the ground to dig for something, especially food; to root, to rootle. Labels: intransitive Example: 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, […] Example: 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 manlineſſe, / And do themſelues for vvant of other vvorke, / Vaine votaries of laeſie loue profeſſe, […] 6. Followed by down: to settle or lie comfortably and snugly in a bed, nest, etc.; to nestle. Labels: intransitive Example: 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 it ſelfe in delicacie, and another vvhich doth not. Example: [T]h' abſtruſeſt things / VVhich in the Mind's dark Temper nuzling lie, / By you expoſed are to every eye. 7. Chiefly followed by up or with: to press affectionately against someone or something; to nestle, to snuggle. Labels: intransitive Example: [W]ill your reſt / ſeme ſvveeter, if I nuzzle on your breſt? Example: 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. 8. To come into close contact with someone or something. Labels: figuratively, intransitive Example: 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. 9. To feel or probe with the fingers. Labels: intransitive, obsolete, rare Example: 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.