To express disdain or contempt for something or someone. The term presumably alludes to the facial expression of a sneer or to the haughty tossing of one’s head to express contempt. In any event, it has been around since the sixteenth century. “When you are down and out, something always turns up—and it is usually the noses of your friends,” said actor Orson Welles (New York Times, 1962).