The meaning of the clause "his chin nuzzled into his breast"

Question

I started to read a novel written by Jorge Orwell - "1984". There is a clause in a sentence "Winston Smith, his chin nuzzled into his breast in an effort to escape a vile wind, slipped quickly through the glass doors of Victory Mansion, ...". I can understand the meaning of the clause. Did Smith's chin take the action of nuzzling into his breast, or is it a passive voice with omitted verb? Correct me, if I am wrong

Answer 1

It is a participle, but a past (or passive) participle used to describe what is being done with his chin.

Let's look at an example with a verb that has a distinct past tense and past participle.

The apple, its flesh eaten by maggots, was on the table.

Here the participle describes the apple's flesh. The part between the commas is parenthetical, and has an adverbial effect, describing the context of the apple on the table.

The verb "eaten" is a passive participle, so it has the same effect as the passive voice, in that the implied subject (his chin) is the natural object of an active verb "nuzzle"

So in your longer, more complex sentence we know that Smith is "nuzzling" his chin into his breast, that is he is lowering his head and raising his shoulders in a vain attempt to keep warm.