snuff
pronunciation
How to pronounce snuff in British English:
UK [snʌf]
How to pronounce snuff in American English:
US [snʌf]
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- Noun:
- the charred portion of a candlewick
- a pinch of smokeless tobacco inhaled at a single time
- finely powdered tobacco for sniffing up the nose
- sensing an odor by inhaling through the nose
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- Verb:
- sniff or smell inquiringly
- inhale audibly through the nose
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- Adjective:
- snuff colored; grayish to yellowish brown
Word Origin
- snuff
- snuff: English has three words snuff, all probably going back ultimately to a prehistoric Germanic base *snuf-, imitative of the sound of drawing air noisily in through the nose. Snuff ‘powdered tobacco for inhaling’ [17] was borrowed from Dutch snuf. This was probably short for snuftabak, etymologically ‘sniff-tobacco’, which in turn was derived from Middle Dutch snuffen ‘sniff, snuffle’, source of English snuff ‘sniff’ [16].That base *snuf- also produced English snuffle [16], probably borrowed from Low German or Dutch snuffelen, and snivel [14], which may go back to an unrecorded Old English *snyflan; and sniff [14], if not directly related, was certainly similarly inspired by the sound of sniffing. Snuff ‘put out a candle’ was derived in the 15th century from the noun snuff ‘burnt candlewick’ [14].The origins of this are not known, but the fact that the now obsolete verb snot was once used for ‘put out a candle’ as well as ‘blow one’s nose’ suggests that this snuff too may ultimately have connections with the inner workings of the nose (possibly a perceived resemblance between an extinguished candlewick and a piece of nasal mucus), and with the base *snuf-. Snuff it ‘die’ is first recorded in the late 19th century.=> snivel
- snuff (v.1)
- "to cut or pinch off the burned part of a candle wick," mid-15c., from noun snoffe "burned part of a candle wick" (late 14c.), of unknown origin, perhaps related to snuff (v.2). The meaning "to die" is from 1865; that of "to kill" is from 1932; snuff-film, originally an urban legend, is from 1975.
- snuff (v.2)
- "draw in through the nose," 1520s, from Dutch or Flemish snuffen "to sniff, snuff," related to Dutch snuiven "to sniff," from Proto-Germanic *snuf- (cognates: Middle High German snupfe, German Schnupfen "head-cold"), imitative of the sound of drawing air through the nose (see snout). Related: Snuffed; snuffing.
- snuff (n.)
- "powdered tobacco to be inhaled," 1680s, from Dutch or Flemish snuf, shortened form of snuftabak "snuff tobacco," from snuffen "to sniff, snuff" (see snuff (v.2)). The practice became fashionable in England c. 1680. Slang phrase up to snuff "knowing, sharp, wide-awake, not likely to be deceived" is from 1811; the exact sense is obscure unless it refers to the "elevating" properties of snuff.
Example
- 1. One of these involved the anatomical snuff box .
- 2. Moreover , such protests as have taken place have been easy to snuff out .
- 3. As it inveighs against colonel qaddafi , its saudi allies have helped snuff out the flame of democracy in the gulf state of bahrain .
- 4. He taps snuff from a plastic bottle .
- 5. In the north , however , the manufacture of snuff and cigars remained largely the operation of whites .