schnozz

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English

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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Likely from Yiddish שנויץ (shnoyts), cognate to German Schnauze (snout) and English snout.[1][2] Compare schnozzle. A less common theory suggests a variant of nose influenced by schm-, or by general association with Yiddish words.[3] Attested since at least 1940.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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schnozz (plural schnozzes)

  1. (slang) Nose.
    Synonyms: see Thesaurus:nose
    • 1969, Philip Roth, Portnoy’s Complaint[1], New York: Vintage, published 1994, pages 149–150:
      [] you have got J-E-W written right across the middle of that face—look at the shnoz on him, for God’s sakes!
    • 1993 March 5, Adam Langer, “Sex Lives of Superheroes/Subfertile”, in The Chicago Reader[2]:
      There's a TV commercial out now for a nasal spray in which a man in need of a decongestant wakes up to find that his entire head has turned into a giant schnozz.
    • 1998 June 26, Cecil Adams, “The Straight Dope”, in The Chicago Reader[3]:
      One presumes the anesthetic is for the bull, although if I were about to pound a nail through some bull's schnozz I might want some anesthetic myself.
    • 1999 November 5, Carl Zimmer, “Society of Vertebrate Paleontology: The Stories Behind the Bones”, in Science[4], volume 286, number 5442, →DOI, →ISSN, pages 1071–1074:
      In another talk, a DinoNose collaborator, Scott Sampson of the University of Utah, Salt Lake City, pointed out a number of ridges in the ceratopsian schnozz that probably supported curtains of cartilage; these in turn may have served as scaffolding for layers upon layers of mucous membranes.

References

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  1. ^ schnozz, n.”, in OED Online Paid subscription required, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, 1982.
  2. ^ Douglas Harper (2001–2024) “schnozz”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.
  3. ^ schnoz”, in Dictionary.com Unabridged., Random House, Inc., 2018 March 30 (last accessed)