SNIPE • E-FREE TRANSLATION.COM • Definition of Snipe

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/snaɪp/ Listen

noun

Snipe n.

(Zool.) Any one of numerous species of limicoline game birds of the family Scolopacidae, having a long, slender, nearly straight beak. Note: The common, or whole, snipe (Gallinago coelestis) and the great, or double, snipe (Gallinago major), are the most important European species. The Wilson's snipe (Gallinago delicata) (sometimes erroneously called English snipe) and the gray snipe, or dowitcher (Macrohamphus griseus), are well-known American species.

A fool; a blockhead. (R.)

Half snipe, the dunlin; the jacksnipe.

Jack snipe. See Jacksnipe.

Quail snipe. See under Quail.

Robin snipe, the knot.

Sea snipe. See in the Vocabulary.

Shore snipe, any sandpiper.

Snipe hawk, the marsh harrier. (Prov. Eng.)

Stone snipe, the tattler.

Summer snipe, the dunlin; the green and the common European sandpipers.

Winter snipe. See Rock snipe, under Rock.

Woodcock snipe, the great snipe.

verb

Snipe v. t.

To shoot at (detached men of an enemy's force) at long range, esp. when not in action.

To nose (a log) to make it drag or slip easily in skidding.

Snipe v. i. (past & past part. sniped; pres. part. sniping)

To shoot or hunt snipe.

To shoot at detached men of an enemy's forces at long range, esp. when not in action; often with at.

snipe at, to aim petty or snide criticisms at (a person) in his absence.

See images of 'Snipe'

Etymology of 'Snipe'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Snipe" Quotes from Famous Books

... would run to the marshes or the fields, and when the fowlers had brought down a blackbird, a snipe, or a lark, she caught it up and presented it to the King with the same message. She repeated this trick again and again, until one morning the King said to her, "I feel infinitely obliged to this Lord Pippo, and am desirous of knowing him, that I may make a return for the kindness ...

— Stories from Pentamerone • Giambattista Basile

... concealing beneath unpromising exteriors, such as only London houses can show, comfort enough and to spare. This is a favourite residential quarter, though we now consider it in, not "conveniently near," town. Snipe were shot in the marshes of Brompton, and nursery gardens spread themselves over the area now devoted to the museums and institute. It is rather interesting to read the summary of John Timbs, F.S.A., writing so late as 1867: "Kensington, a mile and a half west of Hyde Park Corner, contains ...

— The Kensington District - The Fascination of London • Geraldine Edith Mitton

... was still unconvinced, so we went on. The rushes were shining in the moonlight, and one flake of mist was lying on the river. We looked into one bog-hole, and then into another, where a snipe rose and terrified us. We listened: a cow was chewing heavily in the shadow of a bush, two dogs were barking on the side of a hill, and there was a cart far away upon the road. Our teeth began to chatter with the cold of the bog air and ...

— In Wicklow and West Kerry • John M. Synge

... rag under Tetard's Hill, and slowly we crept north again past Yonkers, struggling desperately at Phillips, but making Boar's Hill and Dobbs Ferry by mid-afternoon. And that night the wind shifted so suddenly that from Tappan to Tarrytown was but a jack-snipe's twist, and we lay snug in Haverstraw Bay, under the lee of the Heights of North Castle, scarce an hour's canoe-paddle from the wharf where we ...

— The Reckoning • Robert W. Chambers

... states now involved in his meshes, could have any possible bearing upon the question of peace or wax. The world was governed by other influences. The wiles of a cardinal—the arts of a concubine—the snipe-shooting of an ambassador—the speculations of a soldier of fortune—the ill temper of a monk—the mutual venom of Italian houses—above all, the perpetual rivalry of the two great historical families who owned the greater part of Europe between them as their private ...

— The Rise of the Dutch Republic, 1555-1566 • John Lothrop Motley

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