Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun A preparation of finely pulverized tobacco that can be drawn up into the nostrils by inhaling.
- noun The quantity of this tobacco that is inhaled at a single time; a pinch.
- noun A powdery substance, such as a medicine, taken by inhaling.
- intransitive verb To use or inhale snuff.
- idiom (up to snuff) Normal in health.
- idiom (up to snuff) Up to standard; adequate.
- intransitive verb To inhale (something) audibly through the nose; sniff.
- intransitive verb To sense or examine by smelling; sniff at.
- intransitive verb To sniff; inhale.
- noun The act of snuffing or the sound produced by it; a snuffle.
- noun The charred portion of a candlewick.
- transitive verb To extinguish.
- transitive verb To put a sudden end to.
- transitive verb Slang To kill; murder.
- transitive verb To cut off the charred portion of (a candlewick).
from The Century Dictionary.
- To crop the snuff of, as a candle; take off the end of the snuff from.
- To draw in through the nose with the breath; inhale: as, to
snuff the wind; to snuff tobacco. - To scent; smell; take a sniff of: perceive by smelling.
- To examine by smelling; nose: said of an animal.
- To inhale air vigorously or audibly, as dogs and horses.
- To turn up the nose and inhale air, as in contempt or anger; sniff disdainfully or angrily.
- To smell; especially, to smell curiously or doubtfully.
- To take snuff into the nose. Compare
to dip snuff , under dip, v. t. - noun The burning part of a candle- or lamp-wick, or the part which has been charred by the flame, whether burning or not.
- noun A candle almost burnt out, or one having a heavy snuff.
- noun In mining, same as
smift . - noun Inhalation by the nose; a sniff; also, a pinch of snuff.
- noun Smell; scent; odor.
- noun Offense; resentment; huff, expressed by a sniffing.
- noun A powdered preparation of tobacco taken into the nostrils by inhalation.
- noun In therapeutics, any powder with medicinal properties to be snuffed up into the nose.
- In currying, to smooth or put out with a sleeker. See
to put out , under put, intransitive verb
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun The part of a candle wick charred by the flame, whether burning or not.
- transitive verb To crop the snuff of, as a candle; to take off the end of the snuff of.
- transitive verb to extinguish by snuffing.
- transitive verb To draw in, or to inhale, forcibly through the nose; to sniff.
- transitive verb To perceive by the nose; to scent; to smell.
- intransitive verb To inhale air through the nose with violence or with noise, as do dogs and horses.
- intransitive verb To turn up the nose and inhale air, as an expression of contempt; hence, to take offense.
- noun The act of snuffing; perception by snuffing; a sniff.
- noun Pulverized tobacco, etc., prepared to be taken into the nose; also, the amount taken at once.
- noun obsolete Resentment, displeasure, or contempt, expressed by a snuffing of the nose.
- noun See
Dipping , n., 5. - noun one who uses snuff by inhaling it through the nose.
- noun to be angry or offended.
- noun [Slang] not likely to be imposed upon; knowing; acute.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun
Finely ground orpulverized tobacco intended for use by beingsniffed orsnorted into the nose. - noun Fine-ground or
minced tobacco,dry ormoistened , intended for use by placing apinch behind thelip or beneath thetongue ; see alsosnus .
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
Support
Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word snuff.
Examples
-
Seems to me, sir -- _snuff, snuff, snuff_ -- that the way to do him good is to let him have his own way, so long as he doesn't want to do anything silly.
Yussuf the Guide The Mountain Bandits; Strange Adventure in Asia Minor George Manville Fenn 1870
-
Darwin also regularly went roaming from his study on foot, to dip snuff from a jug in the hall, or to check the mail, delivered several times a day then.
Heart of Darwin 2008
-
Darwin also regularly went roaming from his study on foot, to dip snuff from a jug in the hall, or to check the mail, delivered several times a day then.
Heart of Darwin 2008
-
I dont choose to see murders depicted, either in snuff films or in snuff photography.
-
Ndaru confirmed that police recovered the panga and snuff from the slain suspect.
-
When we had arrived at a place near the last ones, we sat down; they indulged in snuff and conferred together, while I several times suggested that we should make our way over towards the tent and settle down for the night, for we were exhausted and needed rest, while the sick man could go and place himself in the care of the mamba.
-
While they talked they indulged in snuff, and looked too closely at our ponies to make us feel altogether comfortable, the mamba standing near us being of the same opinion as ourselves.
-
I'd doubt it, but you usually snort cocaine or something called snuff which is totally legal.
-
The ones who cut off people’s head in snuff videos.
-
I have seen equally - or more - educated immigrants (and equally "lillywhite") both in Europe and in the USA, who were treated like dirt, and denied opportunities, because their language was not up to "snuff" - their language made them sound uneducated.
yarb commented on the word snuff
...with one nostril he unthinkingly snuffed the sugary musk from the Bashee isles...
- Melville, Moby-Dick, ch. 111
July 31, 2008
yarb commented on the word snuff
Citation on stercoraceous.
January 3, 2009
bilby commented on the word snuff
SPIES, you are lights in state, but of base stuff,
Who, when you've burnt yourselves down to the snuff,
Stink, and are thrown away. End fair enough.
- Ben Jonson, 'To Fool, Or Knave'.
July 28, 2009
Telofy commented on the word snuff
“When asked the whereabouts of the campus bookstore, a university student who replied ‘There’s a great show about California condors on Channel 4 tonight’ would certainly cause raised eyebrows, though you couldn’t point to ungrammatical English as the culprit. The student’s grammatical competence would appear to be fine, but his or her communicative competence would seem not up to snuff.�? – Language: Its Structure and Use by Edward Finegan
October 15, 2009