Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun Any of several chiefly marine fishes of the family Centropomidae, especially Centropomus undecimalis, a food and game fish of warm Atlantic waters.
  • noun A gesture of derision or defiance.
  • idiom (snook/snoot) To thumb one's nose.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • To lurk; lie in ambush; pry about.
  • To smell; search out
  • noun The cobia, crab-eater, or sergeant-fish, Elacate canada. See cut under cobia
  • noun Any fish of the genus Centropomus; a robalo. See robalo, and cut under Centropomus.
  • noun A garfish.
  • noun A carangoid fish, Thyrsites atun: so called at the Cape of Good Hope, and also snoek (a Dutch form).
  • noun The pike and various other fishes of similar shape.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • intransitive verb obsolete To lurk; to lie in ambush.
  • noun A large perchlike marine food fish (Centropomus undecimalis) found both on the Atlantic and Pacific coasts of tropical America; -- called also ravallia, and robalo.
  • noun The cobia.
  • noun The garfish.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A freshwater and marine fish of the family Centropomidae in the order Perciformes.
  • noun A name for various other fishes. See Snook on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
  • verb To fish for snook.
  • noun UK, pejorative A disrespectful gesture, performed by placing the tip of a thumb on one's nose with the fingers spread, and typically while wiggling the fingers back and forth.
  • verb obsolete To sniff out.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun large tropical American food and game fishes of coastal and brackish waters; resemble pike

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Dutch snoek, pike, from Middle Dutch snoec.]

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Origin unknown.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Dutch snoek

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From the 19th century. Unknown origin, possibly related to snoot or snout.

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Examples

  • BoingBoing reader Edward translates, "The phrase 'cocking a snook' is brit for the five-fingered salute (thumb to nose, fingers waggling)."

    Boing Boing: June 8, 2003 - June 14, 2003 Archives 2003

  • •Already, the FWC has received reports of the loss of large numbers of fish such as snook, bonefish and tarpon, species that are especially reliant on warm water.

    KansasCity.com: Front Page 2010

  • •Already, the FWC has received reports of the loss of large numbers of fish such as snook, bonefish and tarpon, species that are especially reliant on warm water.

    KansasCity.com: Front Page 2010

  • •Already, the FWC has received reports of the loss of large numbers of fish such as snook, bonefish and tarpon, species that are especially reliant on warm water.

    KansasCity.com: Front Page 2010

  • •Already, the FWC has received reports of the loss of large numbers of fish such as snook, bonefish and tarpon, species that are especially reliant on warm water.

    KansasCity.com: Front Page 2010

  • The ninth frame saw Aditya contend with the referee that Sourav's attempted 'snook' hadn't really released the cue ball but the flash point soon subsided as Aditya later owned up to a foul that was spotted neither by the referee nor his opponent.

    The Hindu - Front Page 2009

  • I snook up and saw it was my buck and he was dead.

    How long do you wait for a gut shot deer? 2009

  • The mural depicts a swordfish, a redfish, a grouper and a snook.

    Florida Tackle-Shop Fish Mural: Ad or Art? 2009

  • While the initial executive orders from the state caused some confusion with the wording, many people thought the entire season was closed for bonefish, tarpon and snook.

    Uncategorized Blog Posts 2010

  • I snook up and saw it was my buck and he was dead.

    How long do you wait for a gut shot deer? 2009

Comments

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  • 1. Any basslike fish of the genus Centropomus, esp. C. undecimalis, inhabiting waters off Florida and the West Indies and south to Brazil, valued as food and game.

    Any of several related marine fishes.

    (Origin: 1690–1700; < Dutch snoek)

    2. A gesture of defiance, disrespect, or derision.

    Idiom: cock a snook or cock one's snook, to thumb the nose: a painter who cocks a snook at traditional techniques. Also, cock a snoot.

    (Origin: 1875–80; orig. uncert.)

    October 8, 2007