snickersnee

WOTD – 1 July 2008    

English

Etymology

An alteration of snick or snee.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA: /ˌsnɪk.əˈsniː/
• (US) IPA: /ˌsnɪk.ɚˈsniː/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Noun

snickersnee (plural snickersnees)

1. A large sword-like knife, especially one used as a weapon.
   • 1885 — Gilbert & Sullivan, "The criminal cried as he dropped him down", The Mikado

     As he squirmed and struggled,

     And gurgled and guggled,

     I drew my snickersnee,

     My snickersnee!

2. (archaic) A knife fight.

Related terms

• snick or snee
• snicker-snack

Translations

a large sword-like knife

• Finnish: leuku (fi)

a knife fight

• Czech: souboj na nože (cs)

• Finnish: puukkotappelu (fi)

References

• WorldWideWords.org
• OED