nosewitness

English

Etymology

From nose +‎ witness, by analogy with eyewitness and earwitness.

Noun

nosewitness (plural nosewitnesses)

  1. A witness who gives evidence of what they have smelled.
    • 1987 March, David F. Armstrong, “Word, Sign And Object”, in Journal of the Washington Academy of Sciences, volume 77, number 1, →JSTOR, page 28:
      Our language is shot through with expressions that point to this visual primacy: when we need to discover the facts about a crime we seek an eyewitness, not an earwitness. If we were dogs we would probably sniff out a nosewitness but since we are primates and not carnivores we look for someone who saw it done.
    • 2020 December 14, Sophie Haigney, “What Does History Smell Like?”, in The New York Times‎:
      In 1988, the Netherlands national soccer team won the UEFA Championship, beating the Soviet Union 2-0. Celebration ensued. According to nosewitnesses, the smell of the locker room included dirty clothes, coconut shampoo, sweat, smelly feet, leather, grass and Champagne. [image caption]
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