sniff around/round

phrasal verb

sniffed around/round; sniffing around/round; sniffs around/round
British, informal
: to try to get (someone) as a romantic partner, employee, etc.
His engagement hasn't stopped him from sniffing around other girls.
Rival companies have been sniffing around her for years.

Examples of sniff around/round in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web But my belief is that a sub-dominant buck might visit a scrape just to sniff around and see who’s been to the party recently. Scott Bestul, Field & Stream, 18 July 2024 After his victory, Trumpet posed patiently for countless photos, eventually starting to do what bloodhounds do best — sniff around. Jennifer Peltz, Chicago Tribune, 23 June 2022 Smells Now 31% Off $20 at Amazon Rabbits sniff around, a lot. Kate McGregor, House Beautiful, 21 June 2023 Luckily, Searchlight Pictures began to sniff around the project, provided that Booster could rewrite it as a feature film. New York Times, 3 June 2022 After finding prior drug charges, officers wanted a police K-9 to sniff around Owensby's car, which required him to exit, police said. BostonGlobe.com, 10 Oct. 2021 But attempts to plant tension by having Victor sniff around the holes in Leni and Robert’s backstory go nowhere. David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter, 24 Feb. 2023 Another team that probably was going to sniff around Brady thanks to their struggles and Brady’s connection to Mike Vrabel. Ben Volin, BostonGlobe.com, 2 Feb. 2023 Since 2015, Nova and Karcinski have dressed up more than 1,100 dogs in tux collars or bows and arranged to bring them briefly to the ceremony to walk down the aisle, sniff around the guests and pose (ears up, tongues out) for photos with the wedding party. Cathy Free, Washington Post, 16 Jan. 2023

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'sniff around/round.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Dictionary Entries Near sniff around/round

Cite this Entry

“Sniff around/round.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sniff%20around%2Fround. Accessed 19 Aug. 2024.

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!