NOSTRILS

Noun

nostrils

plural of nostril

Source: Wiktionary


NOSTRIL

Nos"tril, n. Etym: [OE. nosethril, nosethirl, AS. nospyrl; nos for nosu nose + pyrel opening, hole, from pyrel pierced, for pyrhel, fr. purh through. Nose, and Through, and cf. Thrill.]

1. (Anat.)

Definition: 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.

Note: In sperm whales, porpoises, and allied animals, there is only one nostril, which is situated on the top of the head and called a spiracle.

2. Perception; insight; acuteness. [Obs.] Methinks a man Of your sagacity and clear nostril should Have made another choice. B. Jonson.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition



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Word of the Day

19 April 2025

CATCH

(verb) grasp with the mind or develop an understanding of; “did you catch that allusion?”; “We caught something of his theory in the lecture”; “don’t catch your meaning”; “did you get it?”; “She didn’t get the joke”; “I just don’t get him”


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Coffee Trivia

Some 16th-century Italian clergymen tried to ban coffee because they believed it to be “satanic.” However, Pope Clement VII loved coffee so much that he lifted the ban and had coffee baptized in 1600.

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