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nuzzle
6 dictionary results for: Nuzzle
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This
nuz·zle       [nuhz-uhl] Pronunciation Key verb, -zled, -zling, noun
–verb (used without object)
1.to burrow or root with the nose, snout, etc., as an animal does: a rabbit nuzzling into the snow.
2.to thrust the nose, muzzle, etc.: The dog nuzzled up to his master.
3.to lie very close to someone or something; cuddle or snuggle up.
–verb (used with object)
4.to root up with the nose, snout, etc.: training pigs to nuzzle truffles from the ground.
5.to touch or rub with the nose, snout, muzzle, etc.
6.to thrust the nose, muzzle, snout, etc., against or into: The horse was nuzzling my pocket for sugar.
7.to thrust (the nose or head), as into something.
8.to lie very close to; cuddle or snuggle up to.
–noun
9.an affectionate embrace or cuddle.
[Origin: 1375–1425; late ME noselen to grovel; orig. uncert.]
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
nuz·zle       (nŭz'əl)  Pronunciation Key 
v.   nuz·zled, nuz·zling, nuz·zles

v.   tr.
  1. To rub or push against gently with or as if with the nose or snout: stroked and nuzzled the kitten.
  2. To root or move with the snout.

v.   intr.
  1. To make rubbing or pressing motions with or as if with the nose or snout.
  2. To nestle together.


[Middle English noselen, to bend down, perhaps back-formation from noselyng, on the face, prostrate, from nose, nose; see nose.]

nuz'zler n.
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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
nuzzle 
c.1425, noselyng "on the nose, prostrate," freq. of nose (v.); meaning "burrow with the nose" is first attested 1530; that of "lie snug" is from 1597, influenced by nestle, or by nursle, freq. of nurse.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This
nuzzle

verb
1. move or arrange oneself in a comfortable and cozy position; "We cuddled against each other to keep warm"; "The children snuggled into their sleeping bags" [syn: cuddle] 
2. rub noses 
3. dig out with the snout; "the pig nuzzled the truffle" 

WordNet® 3.0, © 2006 by Princeton University.
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Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Nuzzle

Nuz"zle\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Nuzzied;p. pr. & vb. n. Nuzzling.] [See Noursle.]

1. To noursle or nurse; to foster; to bring up. [Obs.]

The people had been nuzzled in idolatry. --Milton.

2. [Perh. a corruption of nestle. Cf. Nustle.] To nestle; to house, as in a nest.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Nuzzle

Nuz"zle\, v. i. [Dim. fr. nose. See Nozzle.]

1. To work with the nose, like a swine in the mud.

And nuzzling in his flank, the loving swine Sheathed, unaware, the tusk in his soft groin. --Shak.

He charged through an army of lawyers, sometimes . . . nuzzling like an eel in the mud. --Arbuthnot.

2. To go with head poised like a swine, with nose down.

Sir Roger shook his ears, and nuzzled along. --Arbuthnot.

3. [Cf. Nuzzle, v. t., 2.] To hide the head, as a child in the mother's bosom; to nestle.

4. To loiter; to idle. [Prov. Eng.] --Halliwell.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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