▪ I. snipe, n.
(snaɪp)
Forms: 4–6 snype, 4, 6 snyppe (7 snippe), 6 sknipe, 7– snipe.
[Of doubtful origin: the ME. type snīpe corresponds to a Scand. snīpa recorded in Icel. m{yacu}risn{iacu}pa, Norw. myr-, strandsnipa. It is not clear how this is related to MDu. snippe (Du. and WFris. snip), MLG. and LG. (also older Da.) snippe, G. dial. schnippe, and MDu. sneppe (Du. snep), MLG. and LG. sneppe (hence Da. sneppe, Sw. snäppa), OHG. snepha (snepfa) and snepho (G. schnepfe, obs. or dial. schneppe).]
1. a. One or other of the limicoline birds of the genus Gallinago (formerly included in the Linnæan genus Scolopax), characterized by having a long straight bill, and by frequenting marshy places; esp. G. cœlestis or media, the common English species.
| c 1325 Gloss. W. de Bibbesw. in Wright Voc. 166 Un oysel ke est dist becaz, a snype (snyte). c 1350 Wynnere & Wastoure 349 Barnakes and buturs and many billed snyppes. c 1420 Liber Cocorum (1862) 35 To wodcok, snype, curlue also, The betore in fere with hom schalle goo. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 461/2 Snype, or snyte, byrde, ibex. 1530 Palsgr. 272/1 Snyppe, a byrde, cigoigne. 1551 Sc. Acts, Mary (1814) II. 484/1 Item the snype and qualȝie,..ij d. 1565 Cooper, Gallinago, a wodcocke or a snype. Ibid., Rusticula minor, a sknipe. 1611 Cotgr., Beccassine,..a Snite, or Snipe. 1655 Moufet & Bennet Health's Improv. (1746) 179 Where they perceive a Worm's Hole, as I have seen Snipes to do, there they thrust in their Bill. 1758 Johnson Idler No. 33 ¶16 Went to the common-room, and supped on the snipes with Dr. Dry. 1794 T. Gisborne Walks in Forest vi. (1796) 104 The snipe flies screaming from the marshy verge. 1827 D. Johnson Ind. Field Sports 36 The Calcutta market is well supplied with..snipes. 1865 Tennyson On a Mourner ii, Nature..greens The swamp, where humm'd the dropping snipe. |
b. With
adjs., denoting species of this bird.
See also
double snipe, gutter-,
half-, jack-, mire-, wood-snipe.
| a 1705 Ray Syn. (1713) 193 Gallinago Maderspatana,..the Partridge-Snipe. 1785 Pennant Arct. Zool. II. 471 Finmark Snipe, Scolopax Gallinaria. 1813 Bingley Anim. Biogr. (ed. 4) II. 302 It is stated, that the Common Snipes never frequent woods. 1839 Audubon Ornith. Biogr. V. 583 Common American Snipe, Scolopax Wilsoni. 1843 Yarrell Brit. Birds II. 621 Scolopax grisea, Brown Snipe. 1866 Chambers's Encycl. VIII. 788/1 The Great Snipe, or Solitary Snipe (Scolopax or Gallinago major),..abounds in the extensive marshes of continental Europe. |
c. Applied to various species of birds resembling the snipe. Chiefly with distinguishing epithets.
See also
duck-snipe, jack-snipe,
painted,
red-breasted,
robin snipe,
sea-snipe,
stone-,
summer-snipe.
| 1785 Latham Gen. Synop. Birds III. i. 154 *Brown Snipe... The head, neck, and scapulars, of a fine uniform cinereous brown. 1866 Chambers's Encycl. VIII. 788/1 The Red-breasted Snipe, or Brown Snipe (Macrorhamphus griseus) of North America has been occasionally seen in Britain. |
| 1785 Latham Gen. Synop. Birds III. i. 155 *Dusky snipe. |
| 1829 Griffith tr. Cuvier VIII. 387 Red-shank, or *Gambet Snipe, Tringa Gambetta. |
| 1887 Encycl. Brit. XXII. 200 The so-called *Pin-tailed Snipe Gallinago stenura. |
| 1785 Pennant Arct. Zool. II. 469 *Semi-palmated snipe, with a bill two inches long. 1839 Audubon Ornith. Biogr. V. 585 Semipalmated Snipe or Willet, Totanus semipalmatus. |
| 1785 Latham Gen. Synop. Birds III. i. 148 *Spotted Snipe. |
d. Without article, in collective sense.
| 1842 S. Lover Handy Andy l, The delighted pointer would..dash forward to the well-known ‘bottoms’ in eager expectancy of ducks and snipe. 1845 J. Coulter Adv. in Pacific iii. 29, I have often seen flocks of snipe crossing the bay. 1872 Coues N. Amer. Birds 249 In woodcock and true snipe the ear appears below and not behind the eye. |
2. † a. The Egyptian ibis.
Obs.| 1432–50 tr. Higden (Rolls) II. 323 Bryddes callede snypes, odious to serpentes and amiable to men. |
b. As a moth-name (see
quot.).
| 1832 J. Rennie Butterfl. & Moths 66 The Snipe (Xylophasia scolopacina, Haworth) appears in June. |
3. As an opprobrious or abusive term.
| 1604 Shakes. Oth. i. iii. 391 For I mine owne gain'd knowledge should prophane, If I would time expend with such [a] Snipe. 1730 Swift Panegyric on the Dean Misc. 1735 V. 133 Sir A―r, since you set the Pattern, No longer calls me Snipe and Slattern. 1896 Crockett Grey Man xii. 84 The Earl had set a little snipe of a raggetty loon to stir her up. |
4. slang. a. pl. A pair of scissors.
| 1812 J. H. Vaux Flash Dict., Snipes, scissors. 1834 Ainsworth Rookwood iii. v. (1878) 200 No slour'd hoxter my snipes could stay. |
b. (See
quot.)
| 1864 Slang Dict. 238 Snipe, a long bill or account; also a term for attorneys—a race remarkable for their propensity to long bills. |
c. U.S. The discarded stub of a cigar or cigarette.
| 1891 H. Campbell Darkness & Daylight iv. 124 The ‘Snipe-Shooter’ was guilty of smoking cigar-stubs picked out of the gutter, a habit known among the boys as ‘snipe-shooting’. 1899 ‘J. Flynt’ Tramping ii. iv. 274 This ‘snipe’ chewing and smoking is the most popular use of tobacco in trampdom. 1914 ‘High Jinks, Jr.’ Choice Slang 18 Snipe, a cigar or a cigarette stub. 1939 J. Steinbeck Grapes of Wrath x. 129 Winfield was..an inveterate collector and smoker of snipes. |
d. One of a group of workers,
esp. on board ship (see
quots.).
U.S.| 1918 L. E. Ruggles Navy Explained 139 Snipe—Firemen in the ‘black gang’ always refer to each other as ‘snipes’. In a gang of snipes below there is generally one dude who is known as the ‘king snipe’. He is considered the leading snipe of the watch. 1932 Santa Fé Mag. XXVI. ii. 34/1 A foreman of a section gang is a Jerry or a king; a section laborer is a snipe. 1951 H. Wouk Caine Mutiny xxvi. 289 A big sloppy chowhound named Wagner, a snipe, had made himself a wax impression of the cook's key. 1953 M. Dibner Deep Six xv. 169 A snipe chief wearing a blue shirt and an oil-soiled khaki cap stood legs apart, drinking coffee. |
e. Logging. A sloping surface or bevel cut on the fore end of a log to facilitate dragging.
| 1958 W. F. McCulloch Woods Words 172 Snipe, a bevel hewed on the ride side of the end of a log, making it easier to pull over the skids. 1975 Islander (Victoria, B.C.) 2 Mar. 13/1 He took out the long, beautiful 155-foot timbers, 18 inches at the butt and tapered with a four-foot snipe to a four-inch square point. |
5. ellipt. = snipe-bill 1.
| 1873 Iron 1 Feb. 78/2 Planes... Side snipe, per pair, 7/-. |
6. Also
Snipe. A type of sloop-rigged sailing boat approximately 15½ ft. long and used for racing; also, the name of this class of boat.
| 1931 Rudder (U.S.) July 46 Snipe... Designed especially for the Rudder by William F. Crosby. Ibid. 47/1 Snipe is a design for a small racing sloop. 1941 Sun (Baltimore) 20 Aug. 13/6 For the small-boat sailors races have been arranged in the following classes: Snipe, moth, penguin, winabout, Hampton, 20-foot roundbottom, 20-foot (and under) chine built knockabout. 1942 E. African Ann. 1941–2 57/1 There is always some fine sailing to be had..some craft beating out into the bay or later in the evening some homeward bound ‘Snipe’ coming in before the wind. 1969 H. Horwood Newfoundland xix. 149 Holyrood has a small harbour at the mouth of a brook, and a junior sailing club with instructors and racing snipes. |
7. A long-range shot or attack from a sharp-shooter; the sound of a sniper's bullet. Also
fig.| 1969 G. Macbeth War Quartet 72 The return snipe struck His mouth below the helmet. 1973 E. Bullins Theme is Blackness 6 For paeans of Blackness were videoed throughout Black America, between the stoccado snipe of the assassin's slug. 1977 Rolling Stone 13 Jan. 10/1 Rod Stewart..has transcended two years of snipes for his romance with actress Britt Ekland. 1977 Sunday Times 3 July 17/5 The difficulty of organising a ‘snipe’ (assassination by a single gunman) in the tight security of Belfast. |
8. attrib. and
Comb. a. as
snipe-bog,
snipe-dust,
snipe-shooter,
snipe-shooting,
snipe-shot, etc.; also
snipe-eel, (
a) a species of fish belonging to the deep-sea family
Nemichthyidæ; (
b) the sea-pike or garfish,
Belone vulgaris;
snipe-fly (see
quot.);
snipe's-head (see
quots.);
† snipe-knave, a half-snipe, jack-snipe;
snipe-shell (see
quot. and
cf. snipe-bill 2).
| 1844 J. T. J. Hewlett Parsons & W. xi, The road across the marshes and *snipe-bogs. 1851 Kingsley Yeast viii, Those five miles of heather and snipe-bog. |
| 1861 Times 12 July, A creature who carries a smaller charge of *snipe dust in his head. |
| 1882 Jordan & Gilbert Syn. Fishes N. Amer. 365 Nemichthyidæ. (The *Snipe-Eels.) 1887 ‘J. Bickerdyke’ Angling in Salt Water 99 The Garfish,..Snipe Eel, or Sea Needle, is a long, slender fish [etc.]. |
| 1890 Science-Gossip XXVI. 6 One of the larger *snipe-flies, the Empis tesselata. Notwithstanding the long snipe-like tongue or proboscis of the highly predatory Empis [etc.]. |
| 1887 W. Rye Norfolk Broads 13 The finest *snipe ground in England. |
| 1842 Penny Cycl. XXII. 54/2 Species with a very long tube and without spines... Example, Murex Haustellum (*Snipe's or Woodcock's head of collectors). [Cf. snipe-bill 2.] 1889 Cent. Dict., Caput gallinaginis, the snipe's head; the crista urethræ. |
| 1590 Shuttleworths' Acc. (Chetham Soc.) 60 Fourtene snypes and five *snype kneves xj{supd}. Ibid. 61 Seventene snype kneves and foure snypes ix{supd}. 1611 Cotgr., Deux pour vn, a Snipe-knaue; so called, because two of them are worth but one Snipe. |
| 1889 Loudon's Nat. Hist. 532 The *Snipe Shell (Murex haustellus, or cornutus), so called on account of the length of the prominency coming out of the shell. |
| 1833 W. H. Maxwell Field Book 494/2 When these birds are very plenty, the *snipe-shooters never make use of a dog. 1860 All Year Round No. 53. 66 The Analogist had the opportunity of studying the snipe-shooter of Albion. |
| 1829 Carlyle Misc. (1857) II. 7 Are not such lies themselves..equal to *snipe⁓shooting? 1848 Thackeray Van. Fair iii, A fine, lonely, marshy, jungly district, famous for snipe-shooting. |
| 1822 Sporting Mag. IX. 174 The best *snipe-shot complained that he had not killed more than sixty of these birds. 1832 Babbage Econ. Manuf. ii. (ed. 3) 23 A gun loaded with a quantity of sand, equal in weight to a charge of snipe-shot, kicks still more. 1854 Baker Rifle & Hound in Ceylon vi, I had been firing snipe shot at him. |
| 1805 Bingley Anim. Biogr. (ed. 3) II. 471 The *Snipe Tribe. |
b. Forming
adjs., as
snipe-beaked,
snipe-faced,
snipe-nosed;
snipe-like (also as
adv.).
| 1812 Pennant's Brit. Zool. III. 190 Trumpet Fish..[marg.] Snipe nosed. 1850 James Old Oak Chest III. 45 A little snipe-faced man. 1857 J. Miller Alcohol (1858) 55 He who lives thus snipelike by suction. 1872 Coues N. Amer. Birds 252 A very snipe-like bird. 1895 Lydekker Roy. Nat. Hist. IV. 494 Snipe-beaked sandpipers. 1968 M. Woodhouse Rock Baby xvi. 157, I took the Allen Keys and a small pair of snipe-nosed pliers. 1969 Gloss. Terms Dentistry (B.S.I.) 48 Snipe-nosed pliers, pliers with square nosed flat beaks... Used for bending wire. |
▪ II. snipe, v. (
snaɪp)
[f. snipe n. 1.] 1. trans. To shoot or fire at (men, etc.), one at a time,
usu. from cover and at long range; to pick off (a person) in this manner. Also
fig.| 1782 G. Selwyn Let. in 15th Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm. VI. 621 Now people have been shot by platoons and in corps, the individual will be popped at or sniped, as they call it, from time to time. 1895 Edin. Rev. Jan. 14 The Indian soldier has been called on to be ‘sniped’ by fugitive dacoits. 1900 Daily News 30 Apr. 5/4 The other positions were sniped. |
2. a. intr. To fire as in snipe-shooting; to shoot at an enemy in this manner (
cf. prec.). Also with
at and
away.
| 1832 Oriental Sporting Mag. May (1882) II. 291/2 They were all found among high cliffs, and we generally sniped at them from a considerable height. 1844 tr. Mir Hussain Ali's Life Tipu xiv. 179 The Kuzzaks..remained all night attacking, or sniping and throwing rockets into the English camp. 1897 Daily News 4 Sept. 5/4 The enemy sniped away all day without effect. 1901 Scotsman 6 Apr. 9/5 Three hundred Boers hung on the rearguard, sniping but refusing battle. |
b. fig. To assault with harsh sly criticism; to rebuke or censure sharply; to make a carping attack
at (someone).
| 1892 [implied at sniping vbl. n. 1 b]. 1959 I. & P. Opie Lore & Lang. Schoolch. xvi. 343 Although adult factions may have made peace with each other, their children on the way to school may continue sniping at each other for generations. 1979 ‘A. Hailey’ Overload i. xiv. 79 The press representatives had eaten and imbibed with gusto, then in published reports, some had sniped at GSP & L for extravagant entertaining at a time of rising utility bills. |
3. trans. Logging. To cut a snipe or bevel on (a log) to ease dragging.
| 1870 Overland Monthly 5 July 56/1 The fourth man is the ‘hook-tender’, whose duties are to wait on the team and ‘snipe the logs’. 1902 N.Z. Illustr. Mag. V. 375 If the weather is favourable, the log is ‘sniped’ or rounded at one end, an iron grip driven into it, and to this the team is fastened. 1958 W. F. McCulloch Woods Words 173 Snipe,..to hew a snipe on the end of a log. Snipe for the ride, to put the snipe on the side of the log which would ride on the bottom, saving the work of sniping a bevel around the entire end of the log. |
4. trans. and intr. To pilfer, steal; to pick up or obtain (from the roadside, etc.);
spec. to prospect for gold, as in old diggings.
Cf. sniper 3.
slang (chiefly
N. Amer.).
| 1909 R. W. Service Ballads of Cheechako 122, I panned and I panned in the shiny sand, and I sniped on the river bar; But I know, I know, that it's down below that the golden treasures are. 1923 J. Manchon Le Slang 280 Snipe, escamoter [sc. to steal, filch]. 1932 J. T. Farrell Young Lonigan iv. 169 He walked down to Fifty-seventh St, furtively looked round to see if anyone saw him, and when the coast was clear, he sniped a butt from the street. 1974 F. W. Ludditt Campfire Sketches of Cariboo vi. 27 They..made small amounts of money sniping for gold. 1977 New Yorker 20 June 81/1 He ‘sniped’ a lot of his gold—just took it from likely spots without settling down to the formalities of a claim. |