▪ I. ˈsnarly, a.1 Now dial.
[f. snarl n.1 or v.1]
1. Tangled, ravelled.
| 1647 G. W. Grand Pluto's Progr. thro. Gt. Brit. 15 Thy snarly haire, thy cheeks as red As paint that they on signes do spread. 1876 Robinson Whitby Gloss. 178/1 Snarly, knotty or twisted, as entangled thread. |
2. Full of snarls or knots.
| 1770 Washington Writ. (1889) II. 311 Walnut, cherry, and some other woods that grow snarly and neither tall nor large. 1890 Gloucester Gloss. 144 Snarly, knotty, cross⁓grained; of wood. |
▪ II. snarly, a.2
(ˈsnɑːlɪ)
[f. snarl n.2 or v.2]
Inclined to snarl; irritable, cross. Also transf.
| 1798 Monthly Mag. VI. 346 My wine's a cure for anguish, My sword for snarly puppies. 1827– in Eng. Dial. Dict. 1838 Penny Cycl. XII. 400/2 He [a mad dog] grows sullen and snarly; he..runs about wildly, biting at whatever approaches him. 1869 Mrs. Stowe Oldtown Folks xxii, We all know that..the hyena [is] snarly and fretful. 1879 E. M. Cole Place-names 31 The weather is said to be ‘snarly’ when there is a keen cutting wind in Winter. |