lead by the nose
verb
Forms leads by the nose leading by the nose led by the nose
- verb (idiomatic, figurative) To cause to follow blindly.
- verb (idiomatic, figurative) To lead by example and painstaking explanation, as one might do for remedial teaching. “We had to lead some users by the nose because they couldn't understand even the simplest instructions.”
Synonyms
lead around by the nose bamboozle snow hoodwink pull the wool over someone's eyes play false
Etymology
The figurative senses are metaphorical extensions from the literal sense of leading a livestock animal by grabbing its nose or nose ring (with the latter hooked to a lead) or by pushing its nose into feed or water to encourage it to eat or drink.
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 — from the Wiktionary entry “lead by the nose”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details