sneeze

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The mother panda's reaction to the sneeze is absolutely adorable.

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Definitions (13)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (3)

  1. intransitive verb To expel air forcibly from the mouth and nose in an explosive, spasmodic involuntary action resulting chiefly from irritation of the nasal mucous membrane.
  2. noun An instance or the sound of sneezing.
  3. phrasal verb sneeze at Informal To treat as unimportant: These deficits are nothing to sneeze at.

Toggle Century definitions Century Dictionary (6)

Toggle GNU Webster definitions GNU Webster's 1913 (2)

Toggle WordNet definitions WordNet (2)

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Examples (50)

  • The sound of the falling blade was like a sneeze, and the motion of the head, twitching up as the blade struck then going violently down as it bit, was like the jerk of a man sneezing. —  Title here
  • A terrific clap of thunder rent the air, and everybody looked about to see what had happened The effect of the sneeze was an odd one. —  The Firelight Fairy Book
  • Now it has proved itself If one sneezes only once by day that is a bad sign, but at night it means something good,' he interrupted me Oh,' I said, 'do not, I pray, give me lessons; don't teach me what a sneeze is the sign of. —  Armenian Literature
  • Will vanquish your rival Yellow pills--sneeze, take three pills and sneeze again--repeat if necessary. —  Games for Hallow-e'en
  • With every sneeze, the cable car cabin falls apart more and more.
 

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This word has been looked up 152 times.

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Etymologies (3)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. Middle English snesen, alteration of fnesen, from Old English fnēosan; see pneu- in Indo-European roots.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (2)

  1. Early modern English also sneese, snese, sneze; from Middle English snesen, a variant, with substitution of sn- for the uncommon initial sequence fn-, of fnesen, from Anglo-Saxon fneósan = Dutch fniezen, sneeze, = Icelandic fnœsa, later fny¯sa, sneeze, = Swedish fnysa = Danish fnyse, snort: see fnese, and cf. neeze.
  2. Early modern English also sneese; from sneeze, v.
 

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/sniz/
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