snook

English

Alternative forms

• snoek

Pronunciation

• enPR: sno͞ok, IPA^(key): /snuːk/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -uːk

Etymology 1

common snooks (Centropomus undecimalis)

From Dutch snoek (“pike, Esox”). Doublet of snoek; perhaps more distantly related to snake.

Noun

snook (plural snooks)

1. A freshwater and marine fish of the family Centropomidae in the order Perciformes.
   1. Centropomus undecimalis (common snook).
2. Any of various other ray-finned fishes in several families.

Translations

fish

• Czech: robalo m
• Paraujano: looro

Verb

snook (third-person singular simple present snooks, present participle snooking, simple past and past participle snooked)

1. To fish for snook.

Derived terms

• bay snook
• common snook

Etymology 2

a boy cocking a snook

From the 19th century. Uncertain origin, but probably a variant of snoke. Compare also sneck (“nose”). These words are partly sound-symbolic, given the similarity to snoot, snout, sniff, sneeze etc.

Noun

snook (plural snooks)

1. (UK, derogatory, as a gesture) A disrespectful gesture, performed by placing the tip of a thumb on one's nose with the fingers spread, and typically while wiggling the fingers back and forth.

Derived terms

• cock a snook
• cocking of a snook
• snook-cocker
• snook-cocking

Translations

gesture

• Czech: dlouhý nos m

Verb

snook (third-person singular simple present snooks, present participle snooking, simple past and past participle snooked)

1. (obsolete) To sniff out.
2. (obsolete) To lurk; to lie in ambush.

References

• Michael Quinion (2004), “Snook”, in Ballyhoo, Buckaroo, and Spuds: Ingenious Tales of Words and Their Origins, Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Books in association with Penguin Books, →ISBN.

Anagrams

• Konos, Konso, nooks, Koons