snuffle

English

This entry needs a sound clip exemplifying the definition.

Etymology

Probably from Low German and Dutch snuffelen (“to snuffle”), equivalent to snuff +‎ -le. Compare also Old English snofl (“snot, nasal mucus”), which might not have survived into Middle English.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈsnʌfəl/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ʌfəl

Verb

snuffle (third-person singular simple present snuffles, present participle snuffling, simple past and past participle snuffled)

1. (intransitive) To sniff or smell with the nose loudly and audibly.
2. (intransitive) To speak through the nose; to breathe through the nose when it is obstructed, so as to make a broken sound.
   • 1693, Decimus Junius Juvenalis, John Dryden, transl., “[The Satires of Decimus Junius Juvenalis.] The First Satyr”, in The Satires of Decimus Junius Juvenalis. Translated into English Verse. […] Together with the Satires of Aulus Persius Flaccus. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson […], →OCLC:

     One clad in purple / Eats, and recites some lamentable rhyme […] / Snuffling at nose, and croaking in his throat.

Derived terms

• snuffler
• snuffly

Related terms

• sniffle (verb), snivel (verb)

Translations

to sniff loudly

Bulgarian: сумтя (bg) (sumtja) Chinese: Mandarin: 抽鼻子 (chōubízi) Finnish: nuuhkaista (fi) (once); nuuhkia (fi), nuuskia (fi) (repeatedly) French: renifler (fr) Maori: kuruwhengu, peru, kurahenga, whenguwhengu Russian: сопеть (ru) (sopetʹ) Ukrainian: сопіти (sopity); шморгати (šmorhaty)

to speak through the nose

Ukrainian: гугнявити (huhnjavyty)

Noun

snuffle (plural snuffles)

1. An act of snuffling; sniffing loudly.

Related terms

• sniffle (noun)
• Snuffleupagus

Translations

instance of sniffing loudly

Bulgarian: сумтене n (sumtene) Chinese: Mandarin: 齉 (zh) (nàng) Finnish: nuuhkaisu, nuuskinta, nuuhkinta French: reniflement (fr) m Maori: whenguwhengu, kuruwhengu, kurahenga Russian: please add this translation if you can

See also

• schnozzle