Nose out Definition 1 of 2Pro Tip 1/3Investigative Context Often used in contexts where investigation or careful observation is required to find something. She nosed out the company's financial discrepancies. Pro Tip 2/3Subtle Intuition Can imply using intuition or a hunch to discover something not obviously visible. The journalist nosed out the scandal. Pro Tip 3/3Persistent Effort Suggests persistence and effort in searching for the hidden or unknown. After weeks of research, he finally nosed out the root cause.