it will not fill the half of the nostril of a cat

(gen. nasar, pl. nasar and nasir), f. nostril, esp. pl. nostrils, nose;

bregða e-u fyrir nasar e-m, to put it before one’s nose;

draga nasir at e-u, to snuff, smell at a thing;

stinga nösum niðr, to fall upon one’s face, bite the dust;

lúka nösum, to shut the nostrils, die.

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f., pl. nasar, mod. nasir; an s has been dropped, as may be seen from snös, berg-snös (q. v.), as also from Dan. snuse = to smell; [cp. Engl. nose; Germ. nase; Lat. nasus and nares]:—the nostrils, the nose as the organ of smelling, also of the front of the nose; nasar þessa líkams skyldu vera erchidjáknar, þeir skyldu þefja ok ilma allan sætleik, Anecd.; opnar eru nasarnar, Nj. 154; eldar brenna ór augum hans ok nösum, Edda 41; svá at blóð hrjóti ór munni eðr nösum, Grág. ii. 11; bregða e-u fyrir nasar e-m, to put it before one’s nose, Korm. 34; setja hnefa á nasar e-m, Ld. 36; höggit kom á nasir honum ok brotnaði nefit, Fms. iii. 186; fölr um nasar, pale-nebbed, Alm. 2; taka fyrir nasar e-m, Fs. 141; draga nasir at e-u, to snuffle, smell at a thing, Ísl. ii. 136; stinga nösum í feld, to cover the face in one’s cloak, Sighvat; stinga nösum niðr, to bite the dust, Fms. iii. 189; ef herra þinn lýkr nösum, has his nostrils shut, ceases to breathe, dies, Str. 27; áðr en ek lýk nösum, Þórð. 31 new Ed.; þér mun verða annat eins áðr en lýkr nösum, thy nostrils will be closed before that, a ditty, see the remarks to nábjargir; blóð-nasar, bleeding at the nose; ríða kross í nasar ok eyru ok í hjarsa, N. G. L. i. 339:—in sing. only of one of the nostrils, upp í aðra nösina; það er ekki upp í hálfa nös á ketti, it will not fill the half of the nostril of a cat = it is nothing.

II. metaph. of the beak of a ship; stögin festi á höfði skipsins ok tók af nasarnar, Fms. x. 135, v. l.

COMPDS: nasalæti, nasavit.