count noses

English

Verb

count noses (third-person singular simple present counts noses, present participle counting noses, simple past and past participle counted noses)

1. (idiomatic) To count people one at a time.
   • 1941 September 1, Emanuel Celler, Louis Finkelstein, Frances Strauss, “Americans: Jew and Christian”, in The Atlantic‎^[1], archived from the original on 2023-01-03:

     While I have never counted noses, it is utterly preposterous to estimate that 40 per cent of the total, or 383,658 Federal civil jobs, are held by Jews.

   • 1981 October 25, Walter Kerr, “Stage View; 'CANDIDA' AS A GAME, NOT A PLAY”, in The New York Times‎^[2], archived from the original on 2015-05-24:

     Upon entering, this Candida does not even pause to count noses, see who's there.

   • 1998 August 30, K. C. Cole, “Exactly Right”, in Los Angeles Times‎^[3], archived from the original on 2023-01-03:

     Statisticians say counting noses isn’t the best way to come up with the right number--at least not for a population as large and varied as that of the United States. Far more accurate, they say, is a statistical method called sampling.

2. (idiomatic, politics) To determine the number of supporters of a particular politician or issue.
   • 1867 August 1, John Neal, “London Forty Years Ago: From the Memoranda of a Traveller”, in The Atlantic‎^[4], archived from the original on 2022-08-14:

     The last time we met — only three days ago — his great project was coming up before Parliament, and he told me, in confidence, that he was sure of a favorable result, — that he had counted noses, and had the most comfortable assurances from all the great leaders of the day, — and in short, between ourselves, that grass would be growing on the London Exchange within two years.

   • 1980 February 10, John M. Goshko, “Egypt to Get Best Weapons as U.S. Hunts Arab Support”, in Washington Post‎^[5], archived from the original on 2023-01-03:

     Although Israel strongly opposes beefing up military aid to Egypt, the Israelis, as one reliable source puts it, "have counted noses in Congress and know they can't stop it."

   • 2011 February 9, Chris Weigant, “Can Boehner Count Votes?”, in HuffPost‎^[6], archived from the original on 2023-01-03:

     Because it appears the Speaker has not learned to accurately count noses in his own caucus yet.

   • 2019 February 14, Erin Durkin, “Andrew McCabe says officials discussed removing Trump after Comey firing”, in The Guardian‎^[7], archived from the original on 2022-08-16:

     "The highest levels of American law enforcement were trying to figure out what to do with the president," Pelley said. "They were counting noses. They were not asking cabinet members whether they would vote for or against removing the president, but they were speculating this person would be with us, that person would not, and they were counting noses in that effort."

   • 2023 January 3, Franklin Foer, “You'll Miss Gerontocracy When It's Gone”, in The Atlantic‎^[8], archived from the original on 2023-01-03:

     They reached professional maturity during the years when their political party began to struggle in the face of Republican attacks on the ethos of big-government liberalism, and they prided themselves on their pragmatism, their ability to count noses and preserve disparate coalitions.

Synonyms

• tell noses (archaic)

References

• “count noses”, in Dictionary.com Unabridged, Dictionary.com, LLC, 1995–present.
• “count noses”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, launched 2000.