What Does Nostril Mean?
A nostril is one of the two small openings in your nose. You breathe air in and out through them, and you smell with them.
It is a noun, and you have two: one nostril, two nostrils.
The dog sniffed the grass, and its nostrils twitched.
🔊 Pronunciation
NOS-trul
The stress is on the first part. The ending sounds like -trul.
🗣️ Natural Examples
Cold air tickled my nostrils.
The horse's nostrils opened wide as it ran.
Breathe in through your nostrils and out through your mouth.
A sweet smell filled my nostrils.
Close one nostril and breathe with the other.
🛠️ How to Use It
Nostril is a normal word, and doctors and teachers use it too.
- It is countable: a nostril, both nostrils.
- People usually say nostrils in the plural, because we have two.
- Say left nostril and right nostril to talk about one side.
- For the whole nose, say nose, not nostril.
🤝 Common Word Partners
- the left nostril
- the right nostril
- both nostrils
- wide nostrils
- flared nostrils
- breathe through your nostrils
👯 Similar and Related Words
- nose: the whole part of the face that you smell with.
- nasal: to do with the nose, as in nasal spray.
- snout: the long nose of an animal such as a pig.
- breathe: to take air in and out.
⚠️ Common Mistakes
Spelling. The ending is -tril, not -trel.
❌ nostrel, nosetril
✅ nostril
One nose, two nostrils.
❌ I have two noses.
✅ I have one nose with two nostrils.
💬 In a Conversation
Mia: Why is it nostril and not nose-hole?
Sam: It used to be nose-hole.
Mia: What happened?
Sam: The ending got squashed over time.
Mia: I like nose-hole better.
Sam: So did people a very long time ago.
🕵️ Where Does It Come From?
In Old English, the word was nosþyrl, which means "nose-hole". It joined two words: nosu, "nose", and þyrel, "hole".
Over time, the r and the vowel after it swapped places. Linguists call this metathesis. In the late 1300s, English wrote the word as nostrille, and it has been nostril ever since.
💡 The OddLingo Trick
Split the word: nos + tril.
Nos is nose, and tril is what is left of the old word for hole. So a nostril is just a nose-hole.