poke one's nose into, to
poke one's nose into
Pry into or meddle in another's affairs, as in I told her to stop poking her nose into our business. This usage replaced the earlier thrust one's nose into in the mid-1800s.
See also: nose, poke
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
poke one's nose into, to
To interfere, to meddle. This term began as thrust one’s nose into someone’s affairs, back in the sixteenth century. The analogy presumably is to a dog or other animal nosing about. Samuel Johnson used it in his Dictionary under “Nose” (1755): “To thrust one’s Nose into the affairs of others, to be meddling with other people’s matters.” In America at some point poke was substituted.
See also: nose, poke
The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer
- keep (one's) nose out of (something)
- keep nose out of
- keep your nose out of
- keep your nose out of something
- nose job
- take (something) on the nose
- take it on the nose
- stuff up
- turn nose up at
- turn your nose up at something