snare
pronunciation
How to pronounce snare in British English:
UK [sneə(r)]
How to pronounce snare in American English:
US [sner]
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- Noun:
- something (often something deceptively attractive) that catches you unawares
- a small drum with two heads and a snare stretched across the lower head
- a surgical instrument consisting of wire hoop that can be drawn tight around the base of polyps or small tumors to sever them; used especially in body cavities
- strings stretched across the lower head of a snare drum; they make a rattling sound when the drum is hit
- a trap for birds or small mammals; often has a noose
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- Verb:
- catch in or as if in a trap
- entice and trap
Word Origin
- snare (n.1)
- "noose for catching animals," late Old English, from a Scandinavian source such as Old Norse snara "noose, snare," related to soenri "twisted rope," from Proto-Germanic *snarkho (cognates: Middle Dutch snare, Dutch snaar, Old High German snare, German Schnur "noose, cord," Old English snear "a string, cord"). Figuratively from c. 1300.
- snare (n.2)
- "string across a drum," 1680s, probably from Dutch snaar "string," from same source as snare (n.1). From 1938 as short for snare-drum (1873).
- snare (v.)
- late 14c., "to ensnare," from snare (n.1). Related: Snared; snaring.
Example
- 1. Blaspheme the twisted tendril as snare ?
- 2. As minsky warned , undue faith in unregulated markets proved a snare .
- 3. We spend so much time working toward something , only to have the unexpected snare our attention and take us in a completely different direction .
- 4. Wildlife authorities rescued the five-year-old malayan tiger , badly injured in a snare set up by poachers near the country 's jungle border with thailand .
- 5. Is it possible to conceive of a snare more attractive in appearance and more perfidious in essence ?