nostril
UK /ˈnɒs.tɹɪl/ · US /ˈnɑ.stɹəl/ noun
Forms nostrils nosethirl
- noun Either of the two orifices located on the nose (or on the beak of a bird); used as a passage for air and other gases to travel the nasal passages.
Synonyms
Etymology
From Middle English nostrille, from Old English nosþyrel. Compare Old Frisian nosterle (“nostril”), modern West Frisian noaster (“nostrill”). Compare also Middle Low German noster (“nostril”), from Proto-Germanic *nustriz (“nostril”). By surface analysis, nose + thirl (“hole”).
Webster’s 1913
- noun 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.
- noun Perception; insight; acuteness. [Obs.]
Etymology [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.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “nostril”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details