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Added 10 October 2026

snipe

/snaɪp/ noun

First recorded: 1824 Wiktionary

noun Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about snipe at Wordnik → Where our words come from →

Any of various limicoline game birds of the genera Gallinago, Lymnocryptes and Coenocorypha in the family Scolopacidae, having a long, slender, nearly straight beak.
A fool; a blockhead.
A shot fired from a concealed place.

verb

To hunt snipe.
To shoot at individuals from a concealed place.
To shoot with a sniper rifle.

noun

A cigarette butt.
An end of a log remaining after timber has been cut away.
An animated promotional logo during a television show.

noun

A sharp, clever answer; sarcasm.
A note or sticker attached to an existing poster to provide further information (e.g. an event is sold out, political criticism, etc.).

Origin

From Middle English snipe, snype (“a type of bird”), from Old Norse snípa, as in mýrisnípa (“moor snipe”). Akin to Norwegian snipe. * The verb originated in the 1770s among soldiers in British India, where a hunter skilled enough to kill the elusive bird was dubbed a sniper. The term sniper was first attested in 1824, in the sense of sharpshooter.

From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)

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