snarl
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English[edit]
Pronunciation[edit]
Etymology 1[edit]
From Middle English snarlen, frequentative of snaren (“to trap, tangle”). Equivalent to snare + -le.
Verb[edit]
snarl (third-person singular simple present snarls, present participle snarling, simple past and past participle snarled)
- (transitive) To entangle; to complicate; to involve in knots.
- to snarl a skein of thread
- 1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Qveene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for VVilliam Ponsonbie, OCLC 960102938, book III, canto XII, stanza 17:
- And from her backe her garments she did teare, / And from her head oft rent her snarled heare […]
- (intransitive) To become entangled.
- (transitive) To place in an embarrassing situation; to ensnare; to make overly complicated.
- November 9, 1550, Hugh Latimer, Sermon Preached at Stanford
- [the] question that they would have snarled him with
- November 9, 1550, Hugh Latimer, Sermon Preached at Stanford
- (transitive, intransitive) To be congested in traffic, or to make traffic congested.
- To form raised work upon the outer surface of (thin metal ware) by the repercussion of a snarling iron upon the inner surface.
Derived terms[edit]
Translations[edit]
to entangle
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to embarrass
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to form raised work upon the outer surface of
Noun[edit]
snarl (plural snarls)
- A knot or complication of hair, thread, or the like, difficult to disentangle.
- Synonym: entanglement
- An intricate complication; a problematic difficulty; a knotty or tangled situation.
- A slow-moving traffic jam.
- 2019 November 21, Samanth Subramanian, “How our home delivery habit reshaped the world”, in The Guardian[1]:
- The biggest cities feel the most acute impact of the last mile – of the squads of trucks and vans, the parcel hubs and sorting centres, the parking snarls and the discarded boxes.
Synonyms[edit]
- (entangled situation): imbroglio
Translations[edit]
knot or complication of hair, thread, or the like, difficult to disentangle
Etymology 2[edit]
Frequentative of earlier snar (“to growl”), perhaps from Middle Low German snorren (“to drone”), of probably imitative origin. Equivalent to snar + -le. Related to German schnarren (“to rattle”) and schnurren (“to hum, buzz”).
Verb[edit]
snarl (third-person singular simple present snarls, present participle snarling, simple past and past participle snarled)
- (intransitive) To growl angrily by gnashing or baring the teeth; to gnarl; to utter grumbling sounds.
- (transitive) To complain angrily; to utter growlingly.
- (intransitive) To speak crossly; to talk in rude, surly terms.
- 1697, “Preface”, in John Dryden, transl., The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], OCLC 403869432:
- It is malicious and unmanly to snarl at the little lapses of a pen, from which Virgil himself stands not exempted.
Derived terms[edit]
Translations[edit]
To growl
To speak crossly
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Noun[edit]
snarl (plural snarls)

A sphynx snarls at a dog.
- The act of snarling; a growl; a surly or peevish expression; an angry contention.
- A growl, for example that of an angry or surly dog, or similar; grumbling sounds.
- A squabble.
Derived terms[edit]
Translations[edit]
act of snarling
Further reading[edit]
- snarl in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
- snarl in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911.
- snarl at OneLook Dictionary Search
- “snarl” in Douglas Harper, Online Etymology Dictionary, 2001–2021.
- “snarl” in Merriam–Webster Online Dictionary.
Anagrams[edit]
Icelandic[edit]
Etymology[edit]
Back-formation from snarla.
Pronunciation[edit]
Noun[edit]
snarl n (genitive singular snarls, no plural)
- snack (light meal)
Declension[edit]
declension of snarl
See also[edit]
Categories:
- English 1-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English terms with audio links
- English terms inherited from Middle English
- English terms derived from Middle English
- English words suffixed with -le (verbal frequentative)
- English lemmas
- English verbs
- English transitive verbs
- English terms with quotations
- English intransitive verbs
- English nouns
- English countable nouns
- English terms borrowed from Middle Low German
- English terms derived from Middle Low German
- Icelandic 1-syllable words
- Icelandic terms with IPA pronunciation
- Icelandic lemmas
- Icelandic nouns
- Icelandic neuter nouns
- Icelandic uncountable nouns