▪ I. snib, n.1 Latterly Sc.
Also 5 snybb, 7 snibbe.
[f. snib v.1 Cf. Da. snibbe, Sw. snybba, in the same sense.]
A check, sharp rebuke, or snub.
| c 1440 Alph. Tales 392 When Hillarion..was giffen alonelie vnto his prayers, he sufferd many snybbis of þe fend. 1587 Churchyard Worth. Wales (1876) 61 No sorer snib, nor nothing nips so neere, As feele much want, yet shewe a merrie cheere. a 1601 Pasquil & Kath. (1878) i. 267 Then may one..Rule all, pay all, take all, without checke or snib. 1681 W. Robertson Phraseol. Gen. (1693) 1067 Tart reproofs; Biting and taunting snibs. c 1740 Skinner Poems (1809) 128, I thought he might hae gott'n a snib. 1768 Ross Helenore 13 Sick snibs as that, may sair to let us see, 'Tis better for us to be loose an' free. |
▪ II. † snib, n.2 Cant. Obs.
A petty thief.
| 1607 Dekker Jests to make you Merrie Wks. (Grosart) II. 300 Some horse-stealers, some snibs, some foysts. 1823 Egan Grose's Dict. Vulgar T., Snib, a prig. Scotch cant. |
▪ III. snib, n.3 Chiefly Sc.
[Of doubtful origin: perh. a. LG. snibbe (G. schnippe), snib (Sw. snibb) beak, beak-like point, etc.]
A catch or fastening for a door, window, lock, or the like.
| 1825 Jamieson Suppl. s.v., The snib is the small bolt placed under the latch, and fastening the door so that it cannot be opened from without. 1869 N. & Q. 4th Ser. IV. 467/2 Most doors have both a snib and a sneck. 1891 Barrie Little Minister xxii, An unearthly hand presses the snib of the window, the latch rises. |
▪ IV. snib, v.1 Now dial. and Sc.
(snɪb)
Forms: 4–5 snybbyn, snybbe(n, snyb (6 Sc.), snybe; 4, 6– snib (4, 6 Sc., snibe), 6 snibb, 6–7 snibbe. See also sneb v.
[Of Scand. origin: cf. older Da. snibbe, MSw. snybba, related to snubba snub v.1]
1. trans. To reprove, reprimand, rebuke, check sharply or severely: a. A person.
Common in literary use down to c 1675.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 18228 Hell hint þan þat gerard grim And selcut snarpli snibbed him. c 1386 Chaucer Prol. 525 Hym wolde he snybben sharply for the nonys. c 1412 Hoccleve De Reg. Princ. 2825 But to þe pore, is denyed al grace; He snybbyd is. c 1450 J. Capgrave Life St. Aug. 6 Desiryng of him þat he schuld snybbe þe maydenes þat þei schuld not be redy to telle swech tales. 1515 Douglas Lett. Wks. 1874 I. p. xxxviii, He is..the instrument of mekyll harm, and I dreyd sall yit be of mayr and he be nocht snybbyt. 1577 Stanyhurst Descr. Irel. i. in Holinshed, Here percase some snappish carper will..snuffingly snibbe me, for debacing the Irish language. 1607 Middleton Five Gallants ii. iii, You have snibbed the poor fellow too much; he can scarce speak. 1655 Fuller Ch. Hist. ix. 139 Hence it was that many Bishops..were checkt and snibt by this great favourite to their no small..discouragement. 1678 Bunyan Pilgr. i. 169 Christian snibbeth his fellow for unadvised speaking. 1742 [see snell a. 3]. 1836 Carleton Fardorougha vi, If Honor comes to be snibbin' an' makin' little o' me afore them. 1851 W. Hay in The Lintie o' Moray 64 No termagant tongue..Dares rattle around us, or scold us, or snib. 1854– in dial. glossaries (Northampt., Leic., Rutland). [1888 Doughty Arabia Deserta I. 240 In bitterness of a displeasure he will snib his disobedient son with vehement words.] |
| absol. c 1440 J. Capgrave Life St. Kath. iii. 261 (MS. Rawl.), Therfor ȝour grace..I pray To punch & snybe, ȝourself as ȝe lest. |
b. A thing, action, conduct, etc.
In later quots. passing into sense 2.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 26233 Spous-brecking, and als hordom,..þe biscop agh þaa for to snib. 1435 Misyn Fire of Love ii. ix. 95 If any of slyke þingis ȝee ful seldum wald snyb, to scorne he is laghyd. a 1578 Lindesay (Pitscottie) Chron. Scot. (S.T.S.) II. 133, [I] wald snibe the same [conduct] and schaw thame that law of god. 1596 Dalrymple tr. Leslie's Hist. Scot. (S.T.S.) II. 361 She snibbit the hauiest offences of al men in that cuntrie. 1631 J. Done Polydoron 3 Satyricall Poetry..Snibbing filth in others but retayning it in itselfe. 1648 T. Hill Dying Saints Ep. Ded. B iij b, Far bee it from mee to snib the movings of God's Spirit in the weakest..of his saints. 1720 Wodrow Life R. Bruce (1843) 93 Mr. Bruce wrote..that he was ready to snib the sinister interpretations the people were running to. |
2. To check by some repressive action.
| c 1500 Lancelot 3387 As at the stok the bere Snybbith the hardy houndis that ar ken, So farith he. 1513 Douglas æneid x. Prol. 15 Wyntyr to snyb the erth wyth frosty schouris. a 1607 Brightman Bright. Rediv. (1647) iv. 117 Though it [hope] moderate the desire.., yet it quenches not, nor snibs the earnestnesse thereof. 1663 R. Blair Autobiog. (1848) iv. 63 All the corns were thrown down and fully dried, the growing thereon snibbed. 1674 Bp. Ward Serm. 30 Jan. 13 The seeds of Piety..may be trampled on and kept under, crop'd and snib'd by the bestial part. |
b. Sc. (See quot.)
| 1808 Jamieson, To Snib a candle, to snuff it. |
▪ V. snib, v.2 orig. Sc.
[Cf. snib n.3]
1. trans. To fasten (a door, etc.) by means of a snib or catch; to shut in in this way.
| 1808 Jamieson, To Snib a door, to fasten it with a small bolt. 1861 Ramsay Remin. Ser. ii. 185 Quite a vulgar body, so much so as to ask any one leaving the room to ‘snib the door’. 1864 J. Brown Horæ Subs., Jeems, Hurrying them to their appointed place, Jeems snibbed them slowly in. 1869 N. & Q. 4th Ser. IV. 467/2 When a door is snibbed it cannot be opened from the outside. 1889 A. Conan Doyle Sign of Four vi. 92 Your ally would..shut the window, snib it on the inside. 1934 R. Knox Still Dead xxii. 269 Trying to shut the door quietly, she left it not quite snibbed properly, so that it came a bit ajar. 1953 A. Upfield Murder must Wait i. 4 The Yale-type lock was snibbed. 1962 W. H. Murray Maelstrom v. 73 He snibbed all the ground-floor windows. 1967 I. Hamilton Man with Brown Paper Face ix. 132, I went softly to the main entrance and snibbed it from the inside and put the bolt across. 1971 Islander (Victoria, B.C.) 21 Nov. 2/3 The windows were not only unbroken but snibbed shut. |
2. To catch, secure.
| 1813 Picken Poems I. 59 I'se..reveal to you How..I [sc. a rat] maist was snibbit. 1819 R. Gall Poems 134 The Dutchmen endeavoured to rin for't, But fand themselves snib'd in a girn. |
Hence ˈsnibbing-bolt.
| 1844 H. Stephens Bk. Farm I. 218 Fine water-closet latch, with snibbing-bolt and 5-inch joints. |