▪ I. snot, n.
(snɒt)
Also 5–6 snotte, 6 snott.
[ME. snotte or snot (cf. OE. ᵹesnot), = Fris. snotte, snot, MDu. snotte (Du. snot), MLG. (and LG.) snotte, snot (hence Da. snot, † snaat, sn{obar}t), in sense 2; cf. also LG. snut, MHG. snuz (G. dial. schnutz). The stem is related by ablaut to that of snite v.]
1. The snuff of a candle; the burnt part of a candle-wick. Now north. dial.
| 1388 Wyclif Exod. xxv. 38 Also tongis to do out the snottis. c 1420 Chron. Vilod. 1281 Þe snotte fast brende, þe clothys cauȝt hete & by-gonne to brenne ful fast. 1829 Brockett N.C. Gloss. (ed. 2), Snot, used by the common people to designate the burnt wick of a candle. 1836 Wilson's Tales Borders II. 163 That lang black snot that's hangin' at the candle. 1888– in dial. glossaries (Northbld., Cumbld., Durh., etc.). |
2. The mucus of the nose. Now dial. or vulgar.
Common in the 17th cent.
| c 1425 Eng. Voc. in Wr.-Wülcker 636 Hic polipus, snotte. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 462/1 Snothe, fylthe of the nose (S. snotte). 1530 Palsgr. 272/1 Snotte of the nose, rovpye. 1561 T. Norton Calvin's Inst. iv. 81 That no man should draw snott oute at hys nosethrilles. 1594 Nashe Unfort. Trav. Wks. (Grosart) V. 154 His snot and spittle a hundred tymes he hath put ouer to hys Apothecarie for snowe water. 1621 Burton Anat. Mel. iii. ii. vi. iii. (1651) 562 Snot and snivell in her nostrils, spittle in her mouth. 1662 H. Stubbe Indian Nectar vii. 126 The Blood is more naturally purg'd..by spittle, and snot, then by any Purges. 1713 Derham Phys.-Theol. viii. vi. 421 A great deal of Snot from his Nose. 1774 Goldsm. Nat. Hist. vii. i. (1862) I. 500 From the nose there is always seen issuing a snot. 1808 in Jamieson s.v. Snotter. 1824– in dial. glossaries (Sc., Cumbld., Yks., Lanc., Linc., Somerset, etc.). |
3. dial. and slang. Applied to persons as a term of contempt or opprobrium.
| [1607 Dekker & Marston Northw. Hoe i. D.'s Wks. 1873 III. 19 Farewell father Snot.] 1809 Donaldson Poems 171 Ye're a dozen'd, stupid snot. 1825– in dial. glossaries (Cumbld., Yks., Somerset, etc.). 1875 W. Alexander Ain Folk 207 There's Briggies, the aul' snot, at the ga'le [gable] o' the hoose. 1939 Joyce Finnegans Wake 494, I would misdemean to rebuke to the libels of snots from the fleshambles, the canalles. 1952 B. Harwin Home is Upriver xvii. 172 You want that damn' little snot now, hah? A damn' little snot ain't even dry behind the ears. 1974 N. Freeling Dressing of Diamond 159 She wasn't going to cry in front of that rotten-toothed snot. 1981 J. Melville Sort of Samurai iii. 25 We've let the boy go home on bail... Miserable little snot, but no real harm in him. |
4. (See quot. and cf. next.)
| 1860 Slang Dict. 222 Snots, small bream, a slimy kind of flat fish. Norwich. |
5. Attrib., as snot-green, snot-smeared adjs.; snot-fish, (a) the lump-fish, Cyclopterus lumpus; (b) a species of dace, Cyprinus (Leuciscus) dobula [so G. schnottfisch]; snot-gall, † (a) the nose; (b) a Tasmanian fish, Seriolella brama (Cent. Dict. Suppl. 1909); † snot-hole, a nostril; snotnose slang, a term of contempt applied to a childish, despicable, or conceited person; = snotty-nose; snot-nosed a. slang, foul with nasal mucus; conceited; inexperienced and contemptible; = snotty-nosed a.; snot-rag slang, a pocket-handkerchief; also transf. as a term of opprobrium.
| 1648 Hexham ii, Het Snot-gat, the Snot-hole, or Nostrill. 1655 Moufet & Bennet Health's Improv. 156 Lumps are of two sorts,..either of them is deformed, shapeless and ugly, so that my Maides once at Ipswich were afraid to touch it; being flayed they resemble a soft and gellied substance, whereupon the Hollanders call them Snot-fishes. 1668 Charleton Onomast. 154 Hisce annumeravit Gesnerus Orbem Britannicum, sive Muconem,..the Snot-fish. 1685 Poor Robin's Almanack C vij b, Three Kisses, four Busses, and five licks under the Snot gall. 1886 F. T. Elworthy W. Somerset Word-Bk. 690 Snot-rag.., a pocket-handkerchief. 1916 ‘Taffrail’ Pincher Martin vi. 95 Any schoolboy will tell you what a ‘snot rag’ is. 1922 Snotgreen [see scrotum b]. 1929 T. Wolfe Look homeward, Angel xiv. 170, I don't give a good goddam..if you're the President's snotrag. 1939 Auden & Isherwood Journey to War i. 48 The averted, snot-smeared, animal faces of the very humble. 1941 B. Schulberg What makes Sammy Run? i. 13 A snot-nosed little office boy. 1941 T. Wolfe Hills Beyond ix. 338 How do you know whether it's round or flat—a little two-by-fo' snotnose like you that ain't been nowhere. 1949 A. Miller Death of Salesman ii. 97 That snotnose. Imagine that? 1959 N. Mailer Advts. for Myself (1961) 84 One of them said he was going to take my shirt and use it for a snotrag, and they all laughed. 1960 H. Lee To kill Mockingbird iii. 34 Ain't no snot-nosed slut of a schoolteacher ever born c'n make me do nothin'! You ain't makin' me go nowhere, missus. 1963 ‘E. McBain’ Ten plus One xi. 143 He was not enjoying this little snotnose..and the college girl talk. 1972 M. Woodhouse Mama Doll viii. 100 A persuasive manner you picked up at some snot-nosed advertising agency. 1973 J. Wainwright High-Class Kill 241 You are a self-opinionated idiot. You, and every snivelling little snot-rag like you. 1975 T. Stoppard Travesties i. 23 The swiftly-gliding snot-green (mucus mutandis) Limmat River. 1977 H. Fast Immigrants i. 72 So don't be young snotnose with me. I like serious boys. |
▪ II. snot, v. Now north. dial. and Sc.
(snɒt)
[f. prec. Cf. older Flem. snotten, snutten (Kilian), G. dial. schnutzen.]
1. trans. To snuff (a candle).
| 1388 Wyclif Exod. xxv. 38 Also..where tho thingis, that ben snottid out, ben quenchid, be maad of clenneste gold. 1877 Egglestone Betty Podkins' Lett. 7 Noo snot t' candle, Peter. 1888– in dial. glossaries (Northbld., Durh.). |
2. To blow or clear (the nose). Also refl.
| 1576 R. Peterson Galateo (1852) 13 They spare not to snot their sniueld noses vppon them. 1611 Florio, Smozzicare,..to snot ones nose. 1632 Sherwood, To snot (or blow) his nose, se moucher le nez. 1653 Urquhart Rabelais i. xxi, Then he..sneezed and snotted himself. |
3. intr. To sniff or snivel; to snort.
| 1662 Rump Songs (1874) II. 199 They cheat us all with their looks, And snivell and snot by roate! 1899 Lumsden Edinb. Poems & Songs 73 Your faither's gane three hour an' mair, An' still ye snot, an' snotter there. |