snarl

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
Archived revision by Yesyesandmaybe (talk | contribs) as of 08:55, 13 January 2020.
Jump to navigation Jump to search

English

Pronunciation

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)

  1. (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 […]
  2. (intransitive) To become entangled.
  3. (transitive) To place in an embarrassing situation; to ensnare; to make overly complicated.
    • Latimer
      [the] question that they would have snarled him with
  4. (transitive, intransitive) To be congested in traffic, or to make traffic congested.
  5. 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

Noun

snarl (plural snarls)

  1. A knot or complication of hair, thread, or the like, difficult to disentangle.
    Synonym: entanglement
  2. An intricate complication; a problematic difficulty; a knotty or tangled situation.
  3. 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

Translations

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)

  1. (intransitive) To growl angrily by gnashing or baring the teeth; to gnarl; to utter grumbling sounds.
  2. (transitive) To complain angrily; to utter growlingly.
  3. (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.

Derived terms

Translations

Noun

snarl (plural snarls)

A sphynx snarls at a dog.


  1. The act of snarling; a growl; a surly or peevish expression; an angry contention.
  2. A growl, for example that of an angry or surly dog, or similar; grumbling sounds.
  3. A squabble.

Derived terms

Translations

Further reading

Anagrams

Icelandic

Etymology

Back-formation from snarla.

Pronunciation

Noun

snarl n (genitive singular snarls, no plural)

  1. snack (light meal)

Declension

declension of snarl
n-s singular
indefinite definite
nominative snarl snarlið
accusative snarl snarlið
dative snarli snarlinu
genitive snarls snarlsins

See also

Retrieved from "https://en.wiktionary.org/w/index.php?title=snarl&oldid=58396385"