▪ I. sneck, n.1 Chiefly Sc. and north. dial.
(snɛk)
Forms: α. 4–5 snekke, 5 snekk, 5–7, 9 snek, 5–6 sneke; 6– sneck, 7 snecke; 7, 9 snack; 8 snake. β. 8– snick.
[Of obscure origin: cf. snatch n. 1.]
1. The latch of a door or gate; the lever which raises the bar of a latch; † a catch (cf. 2 a).
| α 1324 Acc. Exch., K.R. Bd. 165 No. 1 m. 4, Pro xxviij snekkes cum xxviij stapulis ad tenendum trendles ligni pro springaldis tendendis. 1419 Mem. Ripon (Surtees) III. 147 Et in j snek ad ostium pulpiti, 1d. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 461/2 Snekke, or latche, clitorium, pessulum. c 1460 Towneley Myst. xiii. 306 Mak. Good wyff, open the hek!.. Vxor. I may thole the dray the snek. 1530 Palsgr. 272/1 Sneke, latche, locquet, clicquette. 1560 Extr. Burgh Rec. Peebles (1872) 258 To vphald substantiousle thair portis in..stapillis, snekkis and all irne graith necessare. 1600 Churchw. Acc. Pittington, etc. (Surtees) 133 For mending the North church gate, and also an iron sneck. 1638 Ibid. 302 A snecke for the ministers sette. c 1725 in J. J. Vernon Parish of Hawick (1900) 80 Paid for 2 Snecks for Quire doore. 1770 Bp. Forbes Jrnl. (1886) 303 Any one, by Night or by Day, can lift the Sneck and come in. 1781– in many dial. glossaries and texts (Sc., N. Ir., N. Cy., E. Ang., Derby, Warw., etc.). 1816 Scott Antiq. xxxiii, The sneck was drawn, and the Countess..entered my dwelling. 1853 G. J. Cayley Las Alforjas II. 216 Sometimes the demons will undo the sneck of the gate. 1885 J. Runciman Skippers & Shellbacks 50 The old man lifted the ‘sneck’ quickly and caught us. |
| β 1786 Burns The Vision vii, When click! the string the snick did draw. 1889 A. Munro Siren Casket 169 He raised the snick Of Allan's cottage door. |
b. to draw a sneck, to act cunningly or stealthily.
| a 1500 in Ratis Raving, etc. 89 Thar word is fyrst in awdiens, With fenȝeand falsat ay reddy To draw a snek rycht subtely. 1786 Burns To G. Hamilton iii, I ken he weel a Snick can draw, When simple bodies let him. |
c. on the sneck, latched. So off the sneck.
| 1824 Scott St. Ronan's xxviii, I'se warrant it a twa-handed ghaist, and the door left on the sneck. 1893 Stevenson Catriona xv. 167 The door was on the sneck that day. 1897 Crockett Lads' Love iv. 43 Then..leave the lang window o' the ben room off the sneck, after the lairds are awa'. |
2. techn. a. A catch or device for holding the lever of a spinning-machine.
| 1825 J. Nicholson Operat. Mechanic 426 When in geer they [i.e. levers] are held firm by the sneck. Ibid., The machine is put in motion by raising the main lever into the sneck by hand. |
b. (See quot.)
| 1883 Gresley Gloss. Coal-m. 229 Snecks, appliances for diverting wagons from the main line into a siding. |
3. dial. or techn. in various senses (see quots.).
| 1810 S. Smith Agric. Surv. Galloway 86 Besides the improvement of locked tops [in stone walls], he invented also snecks or hudds, i.e. spaces built single at short intervals. 1828 Carr Craven Gloss., Sneck, a small piece or tongue of land, abutting on or intersecting an adjoining field. 1883 Gresley Gloss. Coal-m. 229 Sneck, a carving [= air-way]. |
4. attrib., as sneck-fastening, sneck-lock; sneck-band (see quot. 1828); sneck-bend, a form of fish-hook (see quots.); sneck posset, a cold reception or greeting; a discharge or dismissal; sneck-string, a sneck-band.
The Eng. Dial. Dict. contains a number of other examples.
| 14.. Nom. in Wr.-Wülcker 733 Hec mastiga, a *snek⁓bank [? read -band]. Hic gumfus, a dorbande. 1828 Carr Craven Gloss., Sneck-band, the string fastened to the latch, and passed through a hole to the outside of the door. 1855 Waugh Life & Local. 106 The door is still opened from without by a ‘sneck-bant’. |
| 1816 Bainbridge Fly Fisher's Guide 31 The *Sneckbend, as it is commonly called, diverges from the parallel lines from the bend upwards. 1856 ‘Stonehenge’ Brit. Rural Sports i. v. ii. 235 Many Scotchmen use what is called the sneckbend, differing slightly from both of the above [hooks], in being made of a more square shape. |
| 1844 H. Stephens Book of Farm I. 204, 10 Pairs of crooks and bands for feeding-holes. 10 *Sneck-fastenings for ditto. |
| 1570 Wills & Inv. (Surtees, 1835) 312, I do geve vnto An Jaxssonn one woode Cheast which haithe a *sneck locke. |
| 1876 J. Richardson Cumbld. Talk Ser. ii. 65 A *sneck posset I gat. 1885 Hall Caine Shadow Crime 8 He had his own reasons for not quitting Wythburn after he had received his very unequivocal ‘sneck posset’. |
| 1758 W. Reckitt Jrnl. (1799) 59 They did not so much as pull in their *sneck-string when they went to bed and had neither lock nor bar. |
▪ II. sneck, n.2 Sc.
[f. sneck v.2]
A sharp cut; a snick or snip.
| 1768 Ross Helenore ii. 84 The gully..may chance to gee's a sneck into the hand. 1814 Scott Wav. xli, If there's a pair of sheers in the Highlands that has a baulder sneck than her's ain. |
▪ III. sneck, n.3
[Imitative.]
A sharp clicking sound. Cf. snick n.3
| 1851 Mayne Reid Scalp Hunt. iv, Back went the girth buckles with a ‘sneck’. 1861 A. Leighton Trad. Sc. Life Ser. ii. 116 An industrious house too, wherein the birr of the wheel and the sneck of the reel had sounded. |
▪ IV. sneck, v.1 Chiefly Sc. and north. dial.
(snɛk)
Also 5 snekk-, 9 snek.
[f. sneck n.1]
1. trans. To latch (a door or gate); to close or fasten with or by means of a sneck.
| c 1440 Promp. Parv. 284/2 Latchyn, or snekkyn, pessulo. 1560 Maitl. Club. Misc. III. 239 The deponar..fand the dur snecked and vnbarred and sche barred the dur. 1674 Ray N.C. Words 43 Snock [1691 Sneck] the door: Latch the door. 1768 Ross Helenore 36 Sae out she slips, an' snecks the door behind. 1787– in dial. glossaries and texts (Sc., N. Cy., Notts., Linc., Warw., etc.). 1868 G. Macdonald R. Falconer I. 175 Sneck the door, laddie. 1889 Carlisle Patriot 1 Mar. (E.D.D.), If the gate had been snecked, the cattle could not have got on the line. |
b. To lock or shut up. In quot. fig.
| 1816 Scott Antiq. xxix, The secrets of grit folk..are just like the wild beasts that are shut up in cages. Keep them hard and fast snecked up, and it's a' very weel. |
c. intr. Of a door or gate: To latch, shut.
| 1871 J. H. Ewing Brownies, etc. 107 The gate opened for them and snecked after them. 1889 Tennyson Owd Roä xxxii, I'd clear forgot..thy chaumber door wouldn't sneck. |
2. trans. (See quot. 1808.) Sc.
| 1792 Stat. Acc. Scotl. II. 534 Farm-houses and Cottages.—..A very few of them have been stob-thatched, or covered with a deep coat of straw,—and snecked or harled with lime. 1808 Jamieson, To sneck with lime, to make indentations in a wall, filling the blanks with lime; or, in building, to insert a small quantity between the stones in the outer side. |
▪ V. sneck, v.2 Sc.
(snɛk)
[Origin, and relation to snick v.2, uncertain.]
trans. To cut (off).
| 1560 Rolland Seven Sages 103 He tuik hir be the nek, And with ane knife hir heid he did of snek. 1818 Scott Rob Roy xxxii, Do the folk think I hae another thrapple in my pouch after John Highlandman's sneckit this ane wi' his joctaleg? 1835 Carrick Laird Logan (1854) 156 Mony a ane o' my acquaintances hae gotten the thread o' life sneckit. |
▪ VI. sneck, v.3 Now dial.
[Origin obscure.]
trans. To snatch; to take or seize quickly.
| 1607 Middleton Five Gallants i. ii, Pursn. Her Chaine of Pearle. Boy. I sneckt it away finely. 1873 Murdoch Doric Lyre 43 When rent day comes ye're unca fain To look us up an' sneck the siller. |