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.
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:
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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, scene i, page 14:
Miſs Sprightly and you are alvvays nuzling your Heads together.a. 1733, [John] Gay, The Distress’d Wife. A Comedy, London: […] Thomas Astley […], published 1743, →OCLC, Act II, scene viii, page 32:
When the lions came to Rosalba, instead of devouring her with their great teeth, it was with kisses they gobbled her up! They licked her pretty feet, they nuzzled their noses in her lap, they moo'd, they seemed to say, "Dear, dear sister, don't you recollect your brothers in the forest?" And she put her pretty white arms round their tawny necks, and kissed them.1854 (indicated as 1855), M. A. Titmarsh [pseudonym; William Makepeace Thackeray], “We Return to Rosalba”, in The Rose and the Ring; or, The History of Prince Giglio and Prince Bulbo. […], London: Smith, Elder, and Co., […], →OCLC, page 100:
2
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.
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Some twenty whale-boats were nuzzling a sand-bank which was dotted with English soldiery of half a dozen corps, bathing or washing their clothes.1891 January, Rudyard Kipling, chapter II, in The Light that Failed, London; New York, N.Y.: Macmillan and Co., published March 1891, →OCLC, page 19:
Within a couple of hours, pictures of General B nuzzling Kitty Jackson were being posted and traded on the Web.2010, Jennifer Egan, “Selling the General”, in A Visit from the Goon Squad, New York, N.Y.: Alfred A[braham] Knopf, →ISBN, part B:
3
Chiefly of an animal: to dig (something, especially food) out of the ground using the nose or snout; to root.
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.
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]:
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[N]ature hath ſo placed the dug, that as it endeth one vvay in a ſpongeous kinde of fleſh full of ſmall pipes, and made of purpoſe to tranſmit the milke, and let it diſtill gently by many little pores and ſecret paſſages, ſo it yeeldeth a nipple in maner of a faucet, very fit and ready for the little babes mouth, about vvhich to nuzzle and nudgell vvith it[s] prety lips it taketh pleaſure, and loveth to be tugging and lugging of it; […]1603, Plutarch, “Of the Naturall Love or Kindnes of Parents to Their Children”, in Philemon Holland, transl., The Philosophie, Commonlie Called, The Morals […], London: […] Arnold Hatfield, →OCLC, page 220:
[T]he Lineaments of the Countenance are diſtorted by the Natives […] carrying them [infants] on their backs, nuzzling vvith their Face againſt the Mother's Shoulders.1726 October 28, [Jonathan Swift], “The Author Conducted by a Houyhnhnm to His House. […]”, in Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World. […] [Gulliver’s Travels], volume II, London: […] Benj[amin] Motte, […], →OCLC, part IV (A Voyage to the Houyhnhnms), page [177]:
Let Courtly VVits to VVits afford ſupply, / As Hog to Hog in huts of VVeſtphaly; / If one, thro' Nature's Bounty or his Lord's, / Has vvhat the frugal, dirty ſoil affords, / From him the next receives it, thick or thin, / As pure a meſs almoſt as it came in; / The bleſſed benefit, not there confin'd, / Drops to the third, vvho nuzzles cloſe behind; / From tail to mouth, they feed and they carouſe: / The laſt full fairly gives it to the Houſe.1738 (date written), Alexander Pope, “Epilogue to the Satires, in Two Dialogues. Dialogue II.”, in The Works of Alexander Pope Esq. […], volume IV, London: […] J[ohn] and P[aul] Knapton […], published 1751, →OCLC, page 256, lines 171–179:
Help, all good fellows! See you not that I am a dead man? They [sharks] are nuzzling already at my toes!1855, Charles Kingsley, “How They Took the Pearls at Margarita”, in Westward Ho!: Or, The Voyages and Adventures of Sir Amyas Leigh, Knight, […], volume II, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: Macmillan & Co., →OCLC, page 264:
5
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, →OCLC, page 156:
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, […]1595, Ed. Spencer [i.e., Edmund Spenser], Colin Clouts Come Home Againe, London: […] T[homas] C[reede] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, signature D3, verso:
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[T]he vvilde bore maketh deeper rootings, becauſe he hath a longer head, and vvhen he commeth in fieldes that are ſovven, hee vvillingly follovveth one furrovve, nuſling al along the ridge vntill he come to the end of it: […]1606, Charles Steuens [i.e., Charles Estienne]; John Liebault [i.e., Jean Liébault], “[The Hunting of the Wilde Bore.] The Best Time to Hunt the Wilde Bore, and the Marks of a Good Wilde Bore.”, in Richard Surflet, transl., Maison Rustique, or The Countrey Farme: […], London: […] Arnold Hatfield for Iohn Norton and Iohn Bill, →OCLC, book VII (The Warren), page 854:
It vvould have done your Heart good to have ſeen him charge through an Army of Lavvyers, Attornies, Clerks, and Tradeſmen; ſometimes vvith Svvord in Hand, at other Times nuzzling like an Eel in the Mud.1733, Humphry Polesworth [pseudonym; John Arbuthnot], Alexander Pope, compiler, “Law is a Bottomless Pit. Or, The History of John Bull. […]. The Second Part. Chapter VII. Of the Hard Shifts Mrs. Bull was Put to, to Preserve the Manor of Bullock’s-Hatch; with Sir Roger’s Method to Keep off Importunate Duns.”, in Miscellanies, 2nd edition, volume II, London: […] Benjamin Motte, […], →OCLC, page 94:
A grand imagination found in this flight of commerce ſomething to captivate. It vvas vvherevvithal to dazzle the eye of an eagle. It vvas not made to entice the ſmell of a mole, nuzzling and burying himſelf in his mother earth, as yours is.1790 November, Edmund Burke, Reflections on the Revolution in France, and on the Proceedings in Certain Societies in London Relative to that Event. […], London: […] J[ames] Dodsley, […], →OCLC, page 347:
Davie all this while lay with his nose almost in the fire, nuzzling among the ashes, kicking his heels, mumbling to himself, and turning the eggs as they lay in the hot embers, […]1814 July 7, [Walter Scott], “XVI. Comparing of Notes.”, in Waverley; or, ’Tis Sixty Years Since. […], volume III, Edinburgh: […] James Ballantyne and Co. for Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, →OCLC, page 237:
6
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 it ſelfe in delicacie, and another vvhich doth not.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 charges of George Bishop, T[homas] Adams, and C[uthbert] Burbie, →OCLC, page 16:
[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 Tho[mas] Bennet, […], →OCLC, page 309, column 1:
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[T]he ferret is a shivery creature, and likes nothing so well as to nozzle down in a coat-pocket with a little hay.1878 June, R[ichard] J[efferies], “The Man Himself—His House, and Tools”, in The Gamekeeper at Home: Sketches of Natural History and Rural Life, London: Smith, Elder, & Co., […], →OCLC, page 2:
Down at the corner, carols bugled steamily from a mission soup-kitchen. There's no escape from it, he thought. Turn on the radio, and its alleluia licks you with tremolo tongue. 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 York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 38, column 1:
7
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 by Thomas Slater […], →OCLC, page 99:
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:
8
Figuratively 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:
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:
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.
1
An act of nuzzling (all verb senses).
nuzzle
verb
Etymology Origin uncertain; appears to have a separate origin from nuzzle (etymology 1) due to the different meanings, but probably influenced by that word.
1
Also, Obsolete 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 Knyght, […], London: […] Iohn Cawod, Iohn Waly, and Richarde Tottell, published 30 April 1557, →OCLC, page 587, columns 1–2:
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[T]he [thee] Ariſtippus, who beyng longe noſilled in worldly pleaſures, wilt not admitte, that any thynge, whiche is therunto contrarie, maie be expedient or neceſſarie vnto a man, that is vertuous, and lacketh ſuch vice, whiche requireth ſharpe admonicion: […]1533, Thomas Elyot, “The Fourthe Dialogue”, in Of that Knowlage, whiche Maketh a Wise Man. A Disputacion Platonike, London: […] Thomas Berthelet, published p. 1548? (indicated as 1534), →OCLC, signatures Lii, recto – Lii, verso:
[Jesus] dyd grone agayne, and faced euill with hymſelfe, exemplyfying in hymſelfe verely the thyng whiche ought to be exhibite in vs if we will eftſones repente vs of the euilles and returne from the ſame, wherin we haue long tyme nuſſeled our ſelues.1549 February 10 (Gregorian calendar; indicated as 1548), Erasmus, “The Paraphrase of Erasmus vpon the Gospell of Sainct John. The .xi. Chapter.”, in Nicolas Udall [i.e., Nicholas Udall], transl., The First Tome or Volume of the Paraphrase of Erasmus vpon the Newe Testamente, London: […] Edwarde Whitchurche, →OCLC, folio lxxix, recto:
I take no ioy in ſtriving, I haue not beene nozled or trained vp in it.a. 1601 (date written), Richard Hooker, The Answere of Mr. Richard Hooker to a Supplication Preferred by Mr Walter Travers to the H.H. Lords of the Privie Counsell, Oxford, Oxfordshire: […] Ioseph Barnes, and are to be sold by John Barnes […], published 1612, →OCLC, paragraph 26, page 31:
Novv vvhen they are throughly poſſeſſed vvith blind zeale, and nuſled vvith ſuperſtition, he hath many other baites to inueagle & infatuate them farther yet, […]1621, Democritus Junior [pseudonym; Robert Burton], “Causes of Religious Melancholy. […]”, in The Anatomy of Melancholy, […], Oxford, Oxfordshire: […] John Lichfield and Iames Short, for Henry Cripps, →OCLC, partition 3, section 4, member 1, subsection 2, page 734:
2
Falconry, Hobbies, Hunting, LifestyleAlso, Obsolete To train (a dog or hawk) to attack prey.
3
Also, Obsolete 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 Nobles and Senatours.1600, T[itus] Livius [i.e., Livy], “[Book III]”, in Philemon Holland, transl., The Romane Historie […], London: […] Adam Islip, →OCLC, page 123:
4
Also, Literary, Obsolete 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] Richarde Smith, →OCLC, page 337:
[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 Lownes] […], published 1602, →OCLC, signature A2, recto:
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Oh, fool of fools, why had he been dallying with dreams—billing and cooing with his own fancies—fondling and nuzzling and coddling them?1891, Hall Caine, “Of Israel’s Home-coming”, in The Scapegoat: A Romance […], volume I, London: William Heinemann, →OCLC, page 226: