Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. Any of various long-billed shore birds of the genus Gallinago or Capella, related to the woodcocks and sandpipers, especially the common, widely distributed species G. gallinago or C. gallinago.
- n. Any of various similar or related birds.
- n. A shot, especially a gunshot, from a concealed place.
- v. To shoot at individuals from a concealed place.
- v. To shoot snipe.
- v. To make malicious, underhand remarks or attacks.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. A bird of the genus Scolopax in a former broad sense. Some or any bird belonging to the family Scolopacidæ, having the bill straight, much longer than the head, dilated and sensitive at the end, and with a median lengthwise groove on the upper mandible near the end, the toes cleft to the base, the primaries not emarginate, and the tail-feathers barred; especially, a member of the genus Gallinago (Scolopax being restricted to certain woodcock). In Great Britain three species of Gallinago are called
snipe . - n. A fool; a blockhead; a simpleton; a goose.
- n. A half-smoked cigar found on the street.
- n. (See also double-snipe, half-snipe, horsefoot-snipe, jack-snipe, martin-snipe, quail-snipe, rail-snipe, robin-snipe, rock-snipe, shore-snipe, whole-snipe.)
- To hunt snipe.
- n. A sharp, clever answer; a sarcasm.
- n. The Lake Tahoe trout, Salmo clarkii henshawi, found in western Nevada and neighboring parts of California.
- To shoot at the enemy, or at isolated soldiers or outposts, in a casual way, as opportunity offers. See sniping.
- To shoot (one of the enemy) from ambush or in a casual way, and not in a regular battle.
- Same as nose, 5.
Wiktionary
- n. Any of various limicoline game birds of the genera Gallinago, Lymnocryptes and Coenocorypha in the family Scolopacidae, having a long, slender, nearly straight beak.
- n. A fool; a blockhead.
- n. A shot fired from a concealed place.
- n. slang A cigarette butt.
- n. naval slang A member of the engineering department on a ship.
- n. A bottle of wine measuring 0.1875 liters, one fourth the volume of a standard bottle; a quarter bottle or piccolo.
- n. An animated promotional logo during a television show.
- v. To shoot at individuals from a concealed place.
- v. by extension To shoot with a sniper rifle.
- v. To make malicious, underhand remarks or attacks.
- v. To watch a timed online auction and place a winning bid at the last possible moment.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. (Zoöl.) Any one of numerous species of limicoline game birds of the family
Scolopacidæ , having a long, slender, nearly straight beak. - n. rare A fool; a blockhead.
- v. To shoot or hunt snipe.
- v. To shoot at detached men of an enemy's forces at long range, esp. when not in action; -- often with at.
- v. To shoot at (detached men of an enemy's force) at long range, esp. when not in action.
- v. To nose (a log) to make it drag or slip easily in skidding.
WordNet 3.0
- v. hunt or shoot snipe
- v. aim and shoot with great precision
- v. attack in speech or writing
- n. a gunshot from a concealed location
- n. Old or New World straight-billed game bird of the sandpiper family; of marshy areas; similar to the woodcocks
Etymologies
- Middle English "type of bird", from Old Norse -snipa, in myrisnipa ("moor snipe") (Wiktionary)
- Middle English, probably from Old Norse -snīpa (as in mȳrisnīpa, marsh snipe). (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“Yes | No | Report from shawn_bland wrote 36 weeks 2 days ago remember while snipe hunting cover yourself in snipe urine”
“A snipe is a real bird that you can hunt in some states.”
“It just appears to me that every snipe from the Right applies equally to Bush and the way he handled things.”
“They hide in dark corners and snipe from the sidelines.”
“A flock of snipe is called a wisp, although you usually flush them in singles and pairs.”
“A favorite recipe for snipe is the classic bacon wrapped breast with the body cavity stuffed with half of a fresh jalapeno.”
“You have to rub yourself down in snipe urine in order to attract them!”
“You have to rub yourself down in snipe urine to attract them.”
“A snipe is simply not worth the price of a shotgun shell.”
“The “eugenic” snipe is particular silly as respects Down Syndrome as is not in the gene pool at all — with only a single-digit number of exceptions, Down Syndrome victims cannot reproduce, and the condition was not inherited in those cases.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘snipe’.
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henryar's list
marmoleum, menagerie, cyan, ochre, pilfer, discombobulate, loquacious, iridescent, amethyst, derelict, botulism, equilibrium and 240 more...
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•Open List: Flights of Fancy
Fictitious birds. Thanks to PossibleUnderscore for the idea! (Please add a brief description under "Comments" if the creature isn't well-known.)
phoenix, quetzalcoatl, thunderbird, roc, snipe, Roly-Poly Bird, ba, griffin, sphinx, Foghorn Leghorn, Heckle and Jeckle, firebird and 166 more...
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birds
birds with singular names from
at least 9 English dictionariesaasvogel, aberdevine, accentor, accipiter, aepyornis, agami, albatross, alcatras, alcid, alcidine, amadavat, amokura and 1056 more...
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animals (1 syllable)
A list of common animal names. Keep the list to 1 syllable words.No scientific names. No proper names like 'Fluffy' the elephant.Insects and other creatures (even ficticious) are welcome!You can ...
dog, cat, bear, bee, ass, ape, horse, squid, bug, hare, hawk, pig and 138 more...
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Yazhinni Spelling bee
tongue, stallion, scruple, salinity, schedule, rouge, populist, Permian, perspire, pasteurize, multitude, mournful and 227 more...
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Trout
trout, golden trout, rainbow trout, Trout Fishing in ..., Kilgore Trout, Trout Quintet, Trout Mask Replica, steelhead, cutthroat trout, lake trout, trout cod, Mackinaw trout and 61 more...
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ebaysalvageyard
ebay, wood, carved, basket, ebay!, that's, expensive,, sold, junk, cheap, ripoff, snipe and 27 more...
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More Bird Wirds: North America
Birds endemic to the United States and/or North America.
toucan, peacock, weaver, bullfinch, redpoll, siskin, crossbill, finch, rosy-finch, oriole, cowbird, blackbird and 213 more...
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135 Offensive Shakespearean Terms
135 Offensive Shakespearean Terms =)
artless, baggage, barnacle, bawdy, beef-witted, bladder, boil-brained, bootless, brazen, cankerblossom, churlish, churrish and 123 more...
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Words that were new to me
but now they're not because I looked them up. In cases of polysemy or homography, *of course* it was the oddest meaning that stumped me. ;)
Procrustean bed, idem sonans, hob, backcap, quango, cheap-jack, pantechnicon, churrigueresco, chopfallen, maritorious, supererogation, catimini and 212 more...
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learning
A list of words whose meanings I am learning, either because a) I don't know the meaning b) I know the meaning, but could stand to better appreciate certain inflections or secondary meanings or c) ...
louche, educe, loam, cob, sclerotic, palliate, axial, syndicalist, ecumenical, sally, fatuous, parvenu and 1381 more...
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2008 Wordlist
Hopefully, I'll be using this site for more than one year. It will be fun then to look back and see what new words I found worthy of notice in any given year.
All words spotted in 2008...longanimity, permalancer, breeder, biodegradable, handicapable, gender-neutral, translator, interpreter, translation, interpreting, kleptocracy, fanfiction and 1598 more...
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Bottle Collection
I have a sizable collection of fiddle- and banjo-shaped bottles. Some quite old, others not so old.
ampule, ampulla, amula, baby’s bottle, Balthazar, beer bottle, betty, biberon, bidon, bijugue, bombard, borachte and 95 more...
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Bird Names - One Syllable
brant, chat, crow, teal, hawk, gull, tern, lark, loon, quail, swan, stilt and 20 more...
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Words not to confuse
Words that unfortunately have more than one meaning that could either be taken as an insult or a compliment.
snipe, idiotism, piddle, jerk, insolence, drumble, dawt, phat, haver, apery, hoary, orra and 10 more...
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Ye Olde Shouting Match
From a list of insulting words that you might encounter in a Middle English shouting match.
The list was given to me by my English teacher.bawdy, bunch-backed, canker-blossom, brazen, clay-brained, clotpole, churlish, dog-hearted, crutch, distempered, empty-hearted, cutpurse and 78 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for snipe.

bilby Good find erin. Mar 13, 2013
erinmckean I saw this in the context of (I think) promotional material, especially promotional material put up illegally in public places: "At the same time, Mercury did a snipe poster campaign in retail stores and on the streets with the image of the band and call letters of stations playing "Laid."" Billboard Feb 19, 1994
and "It shall be unlawful for any person, persons, firm or corporation
to post, stick, tack, or otherwise affix or cause to be posted,
stuck, tacked or otherwise affixed any bill, snipe, poster, banner,
notice or advertisement to or upon any building, outbuilding or
part thereof, or upon any wall, fence, gate, post, sidewalk, tree,
telegraph pole, telephone pole, awning or shelter pole in the City
of Oakland, except on a regularly authorized bulletin board, bill-
board or structure built especially for that purpose, and then only
on consent in v/riting from the owner or authorized agent of the
property on which the advertisement is to be placed." General municipal ordinances of the city of Oakland, California, in effect November 1, 1912 Mar 13, 2013
yardbird46 Sorry P.U. I don't recall them looking like that at all. But maybe time has fogged my memories. Dec 21, 2009
PossibleUnderscore A 'snipe' according to the new Pixar Film, Up, looks something like this. Dec 21, 2009
yardbird46 Snipe is also used to describe BTs and MMs who work in the engineering spaces below deck in the US Navy. Dec 21, 2009