nose around

nose around (third-person singular simple present noses around, present participle nosing around, simple past and past participle nosed around)

1. To snoop around; to search in a place that one shouldn't.
   • 2004 June 10, Leslie Feinberg, “The love that dared to speak its name”, in Workers World‎^[1]:

     The state had no business nosing around in people's sexual lives.

2. To browse; to look at, especially to satisfy one's curiosity.
   • 2004, Stephen Cartmell, Racing Around Britain‎^[2], →ISBN, page 140:

     As you may now realise, it has become my habit to get a feel of a racecourse by nosing around the local churches.

   • 2009, Hanif Kureishi, Something to Tell You‎^[3], →ISBN, page 313:

     Consider the West Village before you say no. You know you like nosing around the little bookshops and cafés there.

   • 2023, Emma Thomson, John Ruler, World War I Battlefields: A Travel Guide to the Western Front‎^[4], →ISBN, page 80:

     If you just want to nose around, guided tours are given on Saturday mornings at 10.30 […]

3. (especially of animals) To explore using the nose.
   • 1993, Barry Reynolds, John Berryman, Pike on the Fly: The Flyfishing Guide to Northerns, Tigers, and Muskies‎^[5], →ISBN, page 19:

     The tiger nosed around in the weeds for a while, but soon returned to its original hiding place, presumably to mull over what it had learned.

   • 2013, Deborah Bedford, Blessing‎^[6], →ISBN, page 142:

     Storm sprang onto the bed and nosed around her with his whiskers. We've got to do this, she thought as she fingered the kitten's striped fur.

   • 2023, J. D. Arnold, Rawhide Jake: Learning the Ropes‎^[7], →ISBN:

     Jake came up to the stall and stroked his neck while Jasper nosed around Jake's coat pocket. "What're you after, boy?" Jake cooed.