Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A puritanical person.
  • noun Canadian A native or inhabitant of Nova Scotia.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A native of Nova Scotia: a colloquial designation, in allusion either to the hue given to the noses of its inhabitants by its severe winter, or to a kind of potato so named which is largely produced there.
  • noun A Nova Scotian vessel.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun A nickname for a Nova Scotian; also, a Nova Scotian ship (called also Blue"nos`er (�)); a Nova Scotian potato, etc.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A prude
  • noun slang A person from Nova Scotia, Canada.
  • noun slang A follower of Everton Football Club
  • noun slang A follower of Birmingham City Football Club

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a native or inhabitant of Nova Scotia

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

blue +‎ nose

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Examples

  • The typical 'bluenose' is the small farmer-fisherman, a handy man of many trades.

    The Canadian Type 1969

  • The typical 'bluenose' is the small farmer-fisherman, a handy man of many trades.

    The Canadian Type 1923

  • The best type is energetic but reserved; for the 'bluenose' does not consider it necessary to be self-assertive.

    The Canadian Type 1969

  • The best type is energetic but reserved; for the 'bluenose' does not consider it necessary to be self-assertive.

    The Canadian Type 1923

  • * A "bluenose" is a sailor's term for a Canadian or Nova

    John Frewen, South Sea Whaler 1904 Louis Becke 1884

  • Oh, and there being a widespread proliferation of interesting ARM-based designs, many available to buy on a per unit basis for reasonable sums of money, and yet RISC OS is the "devil on skis" choice, hypothetically available for such devices if people weren't too busy squabbling and playing gatekeeper with their continually depreciating "intellectual property". bluenose: "Still we can dream of another white knight riding in to produce ARM hardware"

    Drobe Launchpad News 2009

  • You need the reader to understand at a glance that some character is supposed to be an intimidating badass, or a provincial boor, or a smarmy selfish jerk, or a naive idealist, or an uptight bluenose, the quickest way to do this is by cuing the reader by invoking some stereotype complex that includes these traits.

    The Wisdom of Clowns 2009

  • In the movie "Bowery to Broadway" (1944), it is the members of the Murray Hill Society for Social Reform — a perfect bluenose name — who call in the police to halt a performance by the song-and-dance protagonist.

    Visiting Cagney's Neighborhood Peter Duffy 2010

  • Read the whole thing and resolve never to give one more inch to a bluenose feminist when it comes to entertaining such hysterical fantasies.

    Psychologically Teabagged By Alex Trebek 2008

  • “Still, thought you might like to hear the last word from the bluenose himself.”

    DIAMOND RUBY Joseph Wallace 2010

Comments

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  • Scottish slang - a supporter of Glasgow Rangers Football Club. This term may be derogatory or jocular depending on the context.

    December 26, 2007

  • The sloop that sails through the rude blows?

    The snoop who objects to the lewd shows?

    Both claim the word,

    But I've always preferred

    The stoop-shouldered Scotian as bluenose.

    February 4, 2014