English · Idiom Candidate

on the nose

Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.

Sense 1

Both English Tiếng Việt

Meaning · English

exactly right or accurate

Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt

chính xác hoặc đúng đắn

Machine-translated — suggest a fix

Literally: smelling with the nose

Where it’s used: Used Widespread English

Examples

The bodega of Marques de Caceres in Rioja, northern Spain, was founded by the Forner family in 1970, and today is one of the country's best known and most modern bodegas.

The standard wines from the estate are not to be sniffed at — or rather they repay careful nosing, especially the unusually ripe but fresh and balanced Pinot Blanc (£5.49), and the highly perfumed Muscat (£6.99).

British National Corpus sentence via the MAGPIE corpus (CC BY 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-30)

Sources & notes

Listed in Wiktionary’s “English idioms” category (retrieved 2026-07-29); definition pending editorial review. Definition drafted by AI (@cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast) and auto-approved by rule on 2026-07-31; pending editor spot-check.

Sense 2

Both English Tiếng Việt

Meaning · English

on the watch or look-out. See NOSE.

Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt

trên cảnh giác

Machine-translated — suggest a fix

Era: ca. 1874 (Victorian)

Where it’s used: Origin British & Irish English

Sources & notes

Historical definition reproduced from Hotten’s The Slang Dictionary (1874, public domain; Project Gutenberg #42108, retrieved 2026-07-31). Reflects the attitudes of its era.

Topics: Nose Historical slang (1800s)

Common questions

What does “on the nose” mean?

exactly right or accurate Literally: smelling with the nose

Is “on the nose” formal or informal?

No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.