snipe 
5732 
snobbishness 
snipe 2 (snip), H. [A var. of imea]).~\ A sharp, 
clever answer; a sarcasm. [Prov. Eng. and 
Scotch.] 
snipe-bill (snip'bil), . 1. In carp., a plane 
with a sluirp arris for forming the quirks of 
moldings. 2. A rod by which the body of a 
cart is bolted to the axle. E. H. A'nii/lit. 
snipe-eel (snip'el), . An eel-like fish, Xemii-lt- 
tliyx .it-olii/Kicfim ; any member of the NeuiMi- 
I III/ idee. The snipe-eel attains a length of 3 feet ; it is pale- 
snip. Ct. snip, 11. ,1.1 Small stout hand-shears sniveler, sniveller (sniv'1-er), . [< snivel + 
for workers in sheet-metal, 
snip-snap (snip'snap), . [A varied redupli- 
cation of snap.'] A tart dialogue with quick 
replies. 
Dennis and dissonance, and captious art, 
And snip-snap short, and interruption smart. 
Pope, Dunciad, it -240. 
I recollect, when I was keeping school, overhearing at 
Esq. Beach's one evening a sort of grave snip-snap about 
1. One who snivels, or who cries with 
sniveling. 2. One who weeps; especially, one 
who manifests weakness by weeping. 
And more lament, when I was dead. 
Than all the snivellers round my bed. 
Swift, Death of Dr. Swift. 
3. Figuratively, one who affects tearfulness or 
expressions of penitence, especially with a na- 
sal tone. 
sniveling, snivelling (sniv'1-ing), p. a. Run- 
not "S. Judd, Margaret, iii. ning at the nose; drawing up the mucus in tlio 
snipy (sni'pi), a. [< snipe* + -y*.] Resembling nose with an audible sound ; hence, figurative- 
a smpe ; snipe-like ; scolopacine ; having a long ly, whining ; weakly tearful ; affecting tearful- 
pointed nose like a snipe's bill. ness: much used loosely as an epithet of eon- 
The face [of the spaniel] is very peculiar, being smooth- tempt. 
coated, long, rather wedge-shaped, but not snipy or weak. " That sniveling virtue of meekness," as my father would 
The Century, XXX. 527. always call it. Sterne, Tristram Shandy, U. 12. 
Snirt (snert), n, [A var. of snort.'] 1. A sup- Come forward, you sneaking, snivelling sot you. 
coloredabove,thebacksomewhatspeckled ; thebellyand pressed laMrh.-2. A wheeze. [Prov. Eng.] s * 
anal flu are blackish. It is a deep- water flsh of the Atlantic, smrtle (sner'tl), v. i.; pret, and pp. snirtled, snivel-nose (smv 1-noz), H, A niggardly fellow, 
often taken off the New England coast. A similar flsh, ppr. snirtling. [A var. of snortle, freq. of snort. aalliitell. [JLow.J 
.V. amcetta. is found in Puget Sound. cf. snirt.] To laugh in a suppressed manner: snively, snivelly (sniv'l-i), a. [< snivel + -(/!.] 
snipe-fish (snip nsh), , 1. I he sea-snipe, gn i c k er . Bums, Jolly Beggars. Running at the nose; snotty; hence, whining; 
woodcock-fish, bellows-fish, or trumpet-fish, sn itcher (snich'er), n. [Origin obscure.] 1. sniveling. 
An informer ; a tell-tale ; one who turns queen's Snob 1 (snob), n. [Also in some senses Sc. snab; 
(or king's) evidence. 2. A handcuff. prob. a var. of Sc. and E. dial, snap, snape, a 
[Slang in both uses.] boy, servant, prob. < Icel. sndpr, a dolt, idiot, 
sniteH (suit), . [< ME. suite, snyte, snyghte, 8w. dial, siiopp, a boy. The literary use (def. 
< AS. suite, a snipe ; perhaps allied to snout : see 
snout. Cf. snipe 1 .] A snipe. 
Snipe-eel (.Ve 
scelofaceits}. 
Snipe-fish (Ctntrisctts stolofax). 
dentriscus (or MacrorTiamphosus) scolopax: so 
Fine fat capon, partridge, suite, plover, larks, teal, ad* 
mirable teal, my lord. Ford, Sun's Darling, iv. 1. 
Snite 2 (suit), v. ; pret. andpp. snited, ppr. 
v v 
beak. 2. A murtenoid or eel-like fish of the 
genus Nemiclttliys, as N. scolopaceus; a snipe- 
eel. 3. The garfish, Belone vulgaris: in allu- 
sion to the snipe-like extension of the jaws. 
[Prov. Eng.] 
snipe-fly (snip'fli), u. A dipterous insect of the 
family Leptidse. 
snipe-hawk (snip'hak), . The marsh-harrier, 
Circus eeruginosus. [South of Ireland.] 
snipe-like (smp'lik), a. Resembling a snipe 
in any respect ; scolopacine : as, the snipe-like 
thread-fish. 
snyten, < 
only in verbal n. snytingc) = D. snuiten = OHG. 
snuzan, MHG. sniuzen, G. schnauzen, schneuzen 
= Icel. siiyta = Sw. snyta = Dan. snyde, blow 
(the nose), snuff (a candle) : see snot."]' I. trans. 
To blow or wipe (the nose); snuff (a candle); 
in falconry, to wipe (the beak) after feeding. 
tl. intrans. To blow or wipe the nose. 
Fro spettyng <ft snetyng kepe the also. 
Babees Book (E. E. T. S.), p. 13. 
So looks he like a marble toward rain, 
And wrings and mites, and weeps and wipes again. 
Bp. Hall, Satires, VI. i. 104. 
snipe's-head (snips'hed), w. Ina*.,thecaput snithet, . [Early ME. snithcn, < AS. snithan 
gallmagims. bee verumontanum. (pret . Sll a tn pp . sniden) = OS. *nitkan = OFries. 
snipper (smp'er), n. [< snip + -erl.] i. One snitha, snida, snia = D. gniiden = OHG. snidan, 
who snips ; sometimes, m contempt, a tailor. cut (clothes), MHG. sniden, G. sehneiden = Icel! 
Our nippers go over once a year into France, to -bring snidha = Goth, sneithan, cut. Cf. snitlie, a., 
back the newest mode, and to learn to cut and shape it. snead*. snead 2 , sneath, snathe*.! To cut. 
Dryden, Postscript to Hist, of League. snithe ' (goi mj, a. [< snithe, . Cf. snide, a.] 
2. pi. A pair of shears or scissors shaped for Sharp; cutting; cold: said of the wind. Halli- 
short or small cuts or bites. well. [Prov. Eug.] 
snipper-snapper (snip'er-snap"er),H. A small, snithy (snith'i), a. [= G. schneidig, cutting, 
insignificant fellow ; a whipper-snapper. [Col- sharp-edged; as snithe + -y*.'] Same as snithe. 
Snivel (sniv'l), n. [Early mod. E. suyvell (after 
loq.] 
Having ended hisdiscourse, this seeming gen tile snipper- 
imapper vanisht, so did the rout of the nonsensical! delud- 
ing star-gazers, and I was left alone. 
Poor Robin's Visions (1677), p. 12. (Halliteell.) 
snippet (snip'et), , [< snip + -et.'} A small 
part or share ; a small piece snipped off. 
The craze to have everything served up in snippets, the 
desire to be fed on seasoned or sweetened tid-bits may 
be deplored. Contemporary Jtee., XLIX. 678. 
snippetiness (snip'et-i-nes), w. The state or 
character of being snippety or fragmentary. 
[Colloq.] 
M.UttA,vtiH ^^: ; ^JJS^^S, 
3) seems to have arisen from the use in the 
universities (def. 2), this being a contemptuous 
application of def. 1. In def. 4 the word is 
perhaps an independent abusive use of def. 1.] 
1. A shoemaker; a journeyman shoemaker. 
The Shoemaker, born a Snob. 
Barham, Ingoldsby Legends, II. 220, note. 
2. A townsman as opposed to a gownsman ; a 
Philistine. [University cant, especially in Cam- 
bridge.] 
Snobs. A term applied indiscriminately to all who have 
not the honour of being members of the university ; but 
in a more particular manner to the "profanum vulgus," 
the tag-rag and bob-tail, who vegetate on the sedgy banks 
of Camus. Oradus ad L'antabrigiain (1824). 
3. One who is servile in spirit or conduct 
toward those whom he considers his superiors, 
and correspondingly proud and insolent toward 
those whom he considers his inferiors ; one who 
vulgarly apes gentility. 
Ain't a snob a fellow as wants to be taken for better bred, 
or richer, or cleverer, or more influential than he really is? 
Lever, One of Ihem, xxxi.v. 
My dear Flunkies, so absurdly conceited at one moment, 
and so abject at the next, are but the types of their masters 
in this world. He who meanly admires mean things is a 
Snob perhaps that is a safe definition of the character. 
Thackeray, Book of Snobs, ii. 
4. A workman who continues working while 
others are out ou strike ; one who works for 
lower wages than other workmen; a knob- 
stick; a rat : so called in abuse. [Prov. Eng.] 
the verb), < ME. "snovel, 'snofel, < AS. *snofel Snob 2 t, snub 2 * (snob, snub), v. i. [< ME. snob- 
(Somner), snofl (AS. Leechdoms, ii. 24), mucus, 
snot. Cf. snuffle, and sniff, snuff*.] 1. Mucus 
running from the nose ; snot. 
I beraye any thynge with myvett. Palsgrave, p. 723. 
2. Figuratively, in contempt, weak, forced, or 
pretended weeping; hypocritical expressions 
of sorrow or repentance, especially in a nasal 
tone; hypocrisy; cant. 
The cant and snivel of which we have seen so much of 
late. St. James's Gazette, Feb. 9, 1886. (Encyc. Diet.) 
small fragments than we think quite wise, 
pleasant, snippetiness is not. 
Church Times, April 9, 1880, p. 228. 
eamm, sncvn, nnevyii, snyveu, <, MK. snevelen, ann h3 tv-nnh) 
(Davits.) yy^>>, wjfi-dfeiti also snuvelen, sniff, snivel; * D n0 s e . OD ft 
snippety (snip'et-i), a. [< snip + -eti/, in imita- 
tion of rickety, rackety, etc.] Insignificant; 
ridiculously small; fragmentary. [Colloq.] 
What The Spectator once called " the American habit of 
mippety comment." The American, IX. 52. 
snipping (snip'ing), . | Verbal n. of snip, r.] 
That which is snipped off ; a clipping. 
lien, sob, < MD. stiuben, snore, snort; cf. D. snui- 
cen, snore, = LG. snuven = MHG. sndwen, snup- 
fen, G. schnauben, schnatifen, snort, snuff, pant: 
see stiuffl, sniff, snivel.'] To sob or weep vio- 
lently. 
Suh, suh, she cannot answer me for snobbiny 
Middleton, Mad World, iii. 2. 
snob 2 t, snnb 2 t (snob, snub), H. [<snoV*, snub?, 
v."] A convulsive sob. 
And eke with snubs profound, and heaving breast, 
Convulsions intermitting ! [he] does declare 
His grievous wrong. 
Shenstone, The School-Mistress, st. 24. 
[Cf. snoW, snuff 1 .'] Mucus of 
up the mucus audibly anohhpsa (snobVot r< 
through the.nose; snuff.-3. To cry, weep, or >' " 
Landor, Imag. Conv., Lucian and Timotheus. 
snippy (snip'i), a. [< snip + .!.] 1 F rae . 
mentary; snipped. [Colloq.] ' 
The mode followed in collecting these papers and set- 
ting them forth suggests a somewhat snippy treatment 
2. Mean ; stingy. Tke Maniu, LXVI. 714. 
HalliweH. [Prov 
Eng.] 
snips (snips), n. 
xing. and pi. [A 
plural form of 
fret, as children, with snuffing or sniveling.' 
Let 'em snivel and cry their Hearts out. 
Conyreve, Way of the World, i. 9. 
4. Figuratively, to utter hypocritical expres- 
sions of contrition or regret, especially with a 
nasal tone ; affect a tearful or repentant state. 
He snivels in the cradle, at the school at the altar 
on the death-bed. W hippie, Ess. and Rev., II. '117! 
Il.t trans. To suffer to be covered, as the 
nose or face, with snivel or nasal mucus. 
Nor imitate with Socrates 
To wipe thy snivelled nose 
Vpon thy cap, as he would doe 
Nor yet upon thy clothes. 
Babees Boot(E. E. T. S.), p. 292. 
snivelardt, . [< ME. snyvelard; < snivel + 
-ard.] A sniveler. Prompt. Parv., p. 461 
The 
iuct of 
+ -ess.] A wo- 
See snob*, 2. 
man of a townsman's family. 
[English university cant.] 
snobbish (snob'ish), a. [< snobl + -w7ii.] 
Of 
or pertaining to a snob; resembling a snob. 
(a) Vulgarly ostentatious : desirous to seem better than one 
is, or to have a social position not deserved ; inclined to ace 
gentility. 
That which we call a snob by any other name would still 
be snobbish. Thackeray, Book of Snobs, xviii. 
(6) Proud, conceited, or insolent over adventitious advan- 
tages. 
snobbishly (snob'ish-li), adv. In the manner 
of a snob. 
snobbishness (snob'ish-nes), . The character 
or conduct of a snob. 
The state of society, viz. Toadyism, organi/ed : base 
Man-and- Mammon worship, instituted by command of 
law; snobbishness, in a word, perpetuated. 
Thackeray, Book of Snobs, iii. 
