Led by the nose In english explanation

The meaning, explanation, definition and origin of the idiom/phrase "led by the nose", English Idiom Dictionary ( also found in Vietnamese )

Jimmy Hung

2022-01-25 08:01

Meaning of Led by the nose (redirected from lead (one) (around) by the nose )

Lead (one) (around) by the nose informal

If a person "leads one around by the nose", he/she has total control over someone and makes them do exactly what he/she wants.

Be careful! Don't let him lead you around by the nose like that.

He wasn't aware that he had been led around by the nose for months.

If a person "leads one around by the nose", he/she guides someone in a careful and slow way as if they are quite not smart.

I promise I will lead our new member around by the nose and make sure he doesn't get into trouble.

Grammar and Usage of Lead (one) (around) by the nose

Verb Forms

to lead (one) (around) by the nose
leads (one) (around) by the nose
leading (one) (around) by the nose
led (one) (around) by the nose

The verb "lead" should be conjugated according to its tense.

Origin of Lead (one) (around) by the nose

Although this phrase, which alludes to an animal led by a ring passed through its nostrils, occurs in a slightly different form in the Bible (Isaiah 37:29), its first use in English appears in a translation of Lucian’s Dialogues of the Gods (ca. a.d. 170), cited by Erasmus in Adagia. By the sixteenth century, it had been transferred to human beings.

The Origin Cited: idioms.thefreedictionary.com .