SNUFFING

Verb

snuffing

present participle of snuff

Noun

snuffing (plural snuffings)

The act by which a candle, etc. is snuffed out.

The act of one who, or that which, snuffs or makes a low sniffing sound.

Source: Wiktionary


SNUFF

Snuff, n. Etym: [Cf. G. schnuppe candle snuff, schnuppen to snuff a candle (see Snuff, v. t., to snuff a candle), or cf. Snub, v. t.]

Definition: The part of a candle wick charred by the flame, whether burning or not. If the burning snuff happens to get out of the snuffers, you have a chance that it may fall into a dish of soup. Swift.

Snuff, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Snuffed; p. pr. & vb. n. Snuffing.] Etym: [OE. snuffen. See Snuff of a candle Snuff to sniff.]

Definition: To crop the snuff of, as a candle; to take off the end of the snuff of. To snuff out, to extinguish by snuffing.

Snuff, v. t.Etym: [Akin to D. snuffen, G. schnupfen, schnuppen, to snuff, schnupfen a cold in the head, schnuppen to snuff (air), also, to snuff (a candle). Cf. Sniff, Snout, Snub, v. i.]

1. To draw in, or to inhale, forcibly through the nose; to sniff. He snuffs the wind, his heels the sand excite. Dryden.

2. To perceive by the nose; to scent; to smell.

Snuff, v. i.

1. To inhale air through the nose with violence or with noise, as do dogs and horses. Dryden.

2. To turn up the nose and inhale air, as an expression of contempt; hence, to take offense. Do the enemies of the church rage and snuff Bp. Hall.

Snuff, n.

1. The act of snuffing; perception by snuffing; a sniff.

2. Pulverized tobacco, etc., prepared to be taken into the nose; also, the amount taken at once.

3. Resentment, displeasure, or contempt, expressed by a snuffing of the nose. [Obs.] Snuff dipping. See Dipping, n., 5.

– Snuff taker, one who uses snuff by inhaling it through the nose.

– To take it in snuff, to be angry or offended. Shak.

– Up to snuff, not likely to be imposed upon; knowing; acute. [Slang]

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition



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Word of the Day

11 February 2025

ALEWIFE

(noun) shad-like food fish that runs rivers to spawn; often salted or smoked; sometimes placed in genus Pomolobus


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Coffee Trivia

The earliest credible evidence of coffee-drinking as the modern beverage appeared in modern-day Yemen. In the middle of the 15th century in Sufi shrines where coffee seeds were first roasted and brewed for drinking. The Yemenis procured the coffee beans from the Ethiopian Highlands.

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