snarl
English
Pronunciation
- Rhymes: -ɑː(r)l
Etymology 1
Late 14thc. From Middle English snarlen, frequentative of snaren (“to trap, tangle”). Equivalent to snare + -le.
Verb
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
- Edmund Spenser
- And from her back her garments she did tear, / And from her head oft rent her snarled hair […]
- (intransitive) To become entangled.
- (transitive) To place in an embarrassing situation; to ensnare; to make overly complicated.
- Latimer
- [the] question that they would have snarled him with
- Latimer
- (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
Translations
To entangle
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To embarrass
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To form raised work upon the outer surface of
Noun
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
- (entangled situation): imbroglio
Translations
knot or complication of hair, thread, or the like, difficult to disentangle
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Etymology 2
Late 16thc. Frequentative of earlier snar (“to growl”), perhaps from Middle Low German snorren (“to drone”), of probably imitative origin. Related to German schnarren (“to rattle”) and schnurren (“to hum, buzz”).
Verb
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.
- Dryden
- It is malicious and unmanly to snarl at the little lapses of a pen, from which Virgil himself stands not exempted.
- Dryden
Derived terms
Translations
To growl
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To speak crossly
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Noun
snarl (plural snarls)
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/60/Angry_Sphynx.jpg/220px-Angry_Sphynx.jpg)
- 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
Translations
act of snarling
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Further reading
- “snarl”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
- “snarl”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
- “snarl”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
- Douglas Harper (2001–2024) “snarl”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.
- “snarl”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.
Anagrams
Icelandic
Etymology
Back-formation from snarla.
Pronunciation
Noun
snarl n (genitive singular snarls, no plural)
- snack (light meal)
Declension
declension of snarl
See also
Categories:
- Rhymes:English/ɑː(r)l
- English terms inherited from Middle English
- English terms derived from Middle English
- English terms suffixed with -le
- English lemmas
- English verbs
- English transitive verbs
- English intransitive verbs
- English nouns
- English countable nouns
- English terms with quotations
- English terms borrowed from Middle Low German
- English terms derived from Middle Low German
- Icelandic 1-syllable words
- Icelandic terms with IPA pronunciation
- Rhymes:Icelandic/artl
- Icelandic lemmas
- Icelandic nouns
- Icelandic neuter nouns
- Icelandic uncountable nouns