snurt, v. Now north. and Sc.
Also 5 snvrtyn, 6, 8 dial. snourt, 6 snowrt.
[prob. imitative.]
1. intr. To snort; † to sneer; to snore.
| c 1440 Promp. Parv. 462/1 Snvrtyn, or frowne wythe þe nese for scorne or schrewdenesse, nario. 1549 Coverdale, etc. Erasm. Par. Thess. 7 That we watche in the dayelight and not lye snourtyng in darkenesse. 1551 Dr. Haddon's Exhort. in Furnivall Ballads fr. MSS. I. 325 Yet snowrteste thow, & sleapeste sownd. 1611 Cotgr., Brouffer, to snurt, or snifter with the nose, like a horse. 1790 Mrs. Wheeler Westmld. Dial. (1821) App. 2 They [fish] snourt when they com out oth girt dub like thunner. 1887 Darlington Folk Sp. S. Cheshire, Snurt, to snort; but used only of a horse. |
† 2. trans. To eject or cast out with a snort or clearing of the nose. Obs. rare.
| 1600 Minte of Deformities (Halliw.), One snurts tobacco, as his nose were made A perfum'd jakes for all scurrilities. 1610 Markham Masterpiece ii. xxii. 256 Giue him liberty to hold downe his head, and to snurt out the filthy matter. |
Hence ˈsnurter, a snorer; ˈsnurting vbl. n. and ppl. a.
| 1549 Coverdale, etc. Erasm. Par. 1 Peter II. 12 So as he that is the more watchefull, maye rayse vp the drowsye snourtour. 1567 Drant Horace, Ep. i. xiv. E v, Swetely by the husshing brookes to take a snurting nap. 1611 Cotgr., Esbrouëment,..a snurting, or snuftering with the nose. 1891 Sheffield Gloss. Suppl. 54 A man who was blowing through his tobacco pipe said that ‘it made a snurting noise’. |