snuff

English

Wikipedia

Pronunciation

• (RP) enPR: snŭf, IPA: /snʌf/, X-SAMPA: /snVf/

Etymology 1

This definition is lacking an etymology or has an incomplete etymology. You can help Wiktionary by giving it a proper etymology.

Noun

snuff (uncountable)

1. Finely ground or pulverized tobacco intended for use by being sniffed or snorted into the nose.
2. Fine-ground or minced tobacco, dry or moistened, intended for use by placing a pinch behind the lip or beneath the tongue; see also snus.
   • 1896, Universal Dictionary of the English Language:

     Dry snuffs are often adulterated with quicklime, and moist snuffs, as rappee, with ammonia, hellebore, pearl-ash, etc.

3. A snort or sniff of fine-ground, powdered, or pulverized tobacco.
4. The act of briskly inhaling by the nose; a sniff, a snort.
5. Resentment or skepticism expressed by quickly drawing air through the nose; snuffling; sniffling.
6. (obsolete) Snot, mucus.
7. (obsolete) Smell, scent, odour.

Derived terms

• up to snuff

Translations

fine-ground tobacco

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 鼻煙 (cmn), 鼻烟 (cmn) (bíyān)

• Finnish: nuuska (fi)
• French: tabac à priser (fr), snuff (fr)
• German: Schnupftabak (de) m
• Hungarian: burnót (hu), tubák (hu)
• Italian: tabacco da fiuto (it)

• Japanese: かぎタバコ (ja) (kagi-tabako), スナッフ (ja) (sunaffu)
• Macedonian: бурмут (mk) (búrmut) m
• Norwegian: snus (no) m pl
• Russian: нюхательный табак (ru) (njúxatelʹnyj tabák) m , снафф (ru) (snaff) m 
• Swedish: snus (sv) n
• Telugu: ముక్కుపొడి (te) (mukkupodi)

Verb

snuff (third-person singular simple present snuffs, present participle snuffing, simple past and past participle snuffed)

1. To inhale through the nose.
   • 1945, George Orwell, Animal Farm, chapter 6

     Napoleon paced to and fro in silence, occasionally snuffing at the ground.

Etymology 2

Origin uncertain.

Noun

snuff (uncountable)

1. The burning part of a candle wick, or the black, burnt remains of a wick (which has to be periodically removed).
   • 1621, Robert Burton, The Anatomy of Melancholy, II.3.3:

     his memory stinks like the snuff of a candle when it is put out [...].

   • Jonathan Swift

     If the burning snuff happens to get out of the snuffers, you have a chance that it may fall into a dish of soup.

2. (obsolete) Leavings in a glass after drinking; heel-taps.
3. (attributive) Pertaining to a form of pornographic film which involves someone's actually being murdered.

Derived terms

• snuff-dish
• snuff film
• snuff movie
• snuffter

Verb

snuff (third-person singular simple present snuffs, present participle snuffing, simple past and past participle snuffed)

1. To extinguish a candle or oil-lamp flame by covering the burning end of the wick until the flame is suffocated.
2. (slang) To kill a person; to snuff out.

Derived terms

• snuffer
• snuff it
• snuff out

Translations

extinguish candle or oil-lamp

• Norwegian: slukke (no)

• Scottish Gaelic: smàil (gd)