Meaning of count noses | Babel Free

Definitions

1. To count people one at a time.
   idiomatic
2. To determine the number of supporters of a particular politician or issue.
   idiomatic

Examples

“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.”

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

“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.”

“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.”

“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."”

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

“"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."”

“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.”

CEFR level