snipiness

English

Etymology

snipey +‎ -ness

Noun

snipiness (uncountable)

1. The property of being full of, characteristic of, or attractive to snipe.
   • 1902, The Spectator - Volume 87, page 310:

     ...for several shooting seasons it remained a likely place, though it grew only grass, and there was no visible snipiness about it.

   • 1920, Country Life - Volume 37, page 40:

     A good duck call is a necessity (the siren variety has served me best), and if one picks and tries among the bone' whistles sold for snipe, he will come upon one with just the right pitch of snipiness for yellowlegs and black-bellies.

   • 1923, Shane Leslie, Doomsland, page 68:

     He could calculate the influence of moon and wind on the snipe-mind. He could guess whether a red or a black bog suited snipiness at the moment.

2. (of an animal's head) Resemblance to a snipe's beak; the property of being long, narrow, and pointed; beakiness.
   • 1934, Dogs and Their Management, page 38:

     The jaws are long, powerful and devoid either of snipiness or of exaggeration in length.

   • 1997, Heather Wiles-Fone, The Ultimate Labrador Retriever, →ISBN, page 91:

     The jaws should be medium length and powerful and free from snipiness.

   • 2016, Doug Jordan, The Maxim Chronicles, →ISBN, page 130:

     I don't think the judges will rate Max for lippiness and snipiness the way some of us might.

Anagrams

• spininess