lead (one) (around) by the nose
lead (one) (around) by the nose
To exert a high degree of control over someone else. I can't stand the way your mother leads you around by the nose like that and tells you what to do!
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2024 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.
lead someone by the nose
1. Fig. to force someone to go somewhere (with you); to lead someone by coercion. John had to lead Tom by the nose to get him to the opera. I'll go, but you'll have to lead me by the nose.
2. Fig. to guide someone very carefully and slowly. (As if the person were not very smart.) He will never find his way through the tax form unless you lead him by the nose. Don't lead me by the nose! I'm coming!
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs. © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
lead by the nose
Dominate or control someone, as in "The Moor ... will tenderly be led by the nose as asses are" (Shakespeare, Othello, 1:3). This expression alludes to an animal being led by a ring passed through its nostrils. [Late 1500s]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 2003, 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
lead someone by the nose
orlead someone around by the nose
If someone leads you by the nose or leads you around by the nose, they control you completely so that you do whatever they want. This nation has been led by the nose in foreign affairs. The Government has let itself be led by the nose by the timber trade. Note: This expression is used to indicate that the person or organization being controlled is weak. Note: Bulls and other animals sometimes have rings through their noses so that a rope can be tied to the ring in order to lead them along. This expression is used in Shakespeare's play Othello, when Iago says Othello `will as tenderly be led by the nose as asses are.' (Act I, Scene 3)
Collins COBUILD Idioms Dictionary, 3rd ed. © HarperCollins Publishers 2012
lead someone by the nose
control someone totally, especially by deceiving them. informalThe image here is of an animal being controlled by a restraint round or in the nose. Shakespeare used this expression in Othello ( 1604 ): ‘The Moor…will as tenderly be led by th'nose As asses are’.
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary © Farlex 2017
lead somebody by the ˈnose
make somebody do everything you want; control somebody completely: Unfortunately, she’s allowed herself to be led by the nose for years, so it doesn’t surprise me that she isn’t happy.Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary © Farlex 2017
lead by the nose, to
To dominate. 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. Arthur Golding’s translation of Calvin’s writings (1583) states it as, “Men . . . suffer themselves to be led by the nose like brute beasts.”
The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer Copyright © 2013 by Christine Ammer