Library / English Dictionary

SNARE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

A trap for birds or small mammals; often has a slip noose

Synonyms:

gin; noose; snare

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("snare" is a kind of...):

trap (a device in which something (usually an animal) can be caught and penned)

Meronyms (parts of "snare"):

slipknot (a knot at the end of a cord or rope that can slip along the cord or rope around which it is made)

Derivation:

snare (catch in or as if in a trap)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Strings stretched across the lower head of a snare drum; they make a rattling sound when the drum is hit

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("snare" is a kind of...):

string (a tightly stretched cord of wire or gut, as a part of an instrument or a tennis racket)

Holonyms ("snare" is a part of...):

side drum; snare; snare drum (a small drum with two heads and a snare stretched across the lower head)

Sense 3

Meaning:

A surgical instrument consisting of wire hoop that can be drawn tight around the base of polyps or small tumors to sever them; used especially in body cavities

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("snare" is a kind of...):

surgical instrument (a medical instrument used in surgery)

Sense 4

Meaning:

A small drum with two heads and a snare stretched across the lower head

Synonyms:

side drum; snare; snare drum

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("snare" is a kind of...):

drum; membranophone; tympan (a musical percussion instrument; usually consists of a hollow cylinder with a membrane stretched across each end)

Meronyms (parts of "snare"):

snare (strings stretched across the lower head of a snare drum; they make a rattling sound when the drum is hit)

Sense 5

Meaning:

Something (often something deceptively attractive) that catches you unawares

Example:

it was all a snare and delusion

Synonyms:

snare; trap

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

Hypernyms ("snare" is a kind of...):

design; plan (an arrangement scheme)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "snare"):

iron trap (a trap from which there is no escape)

speed trap (a trap arranged on a roadway for catching speeders)

Derivation:

snare (entice and trap)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Entice and trap

Example:

The car salesman had snared three potential customers

Synonyms:

hook; snare

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Hypernyms (to "snare" is one way to...):

entice; lure; tempt (provoke someone to do something through (often false or exaggerated) promises or persuasion)

Verb group:

accost; hook; solicit (approach with an offer of sexual favors)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody

Derivation:

snare (something (often something deceptively attractive) that catches you unawares)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Catch in or as if in a trap

Example:

The men trap foxes

Synonyms:

ensnare; entrap; snare; trammel; trap

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Hypernyms (to "snare" is one way to...):

capture; catch (capture as if by hunting, snaring, or trapping)

Domain category:

hunt; hunting (the pursuit and killing or capture of wild animals regarded as a sport)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "snare"):

gin (trap with a snare)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Sentence example:

They snare the animals

Derivation:

snare (a trap for birds or small mammals; often has a slip noose)

snarer (someone who sets snares for birds or small animals)

Credits

 Context examples: 

There were other run-ways and alleys where rabbits were hanging in the air, and the wolf-pair prospected them all, the she-wolf leading the way, old One Eye following and observant, learning the method of robbing snares—a knowledge destined to stand him in good stead in the days to come.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

To have surrendered to temptation; listened to passion; made no painful effort—no struggle;—but to have sunk down in the silken snare; fallen asleep on the flowers covering it; wakened in a southern clime, amongst the luxuries of a pleasure villa: to have been now living in France, Mr. Rochester's mistress; delirious with his love half my time—for he would—oh, yes, he would have loved me well for a while.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

In the first days after the birth of the cubs, One Eye had journeyed several times back to the Indian camp and robbed the rabbit snares; but, with the melting of the snow and the opening of the streams, the Indian camp had moved away, and that source of supply was closed to him.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

He could not then hasten to England himself, to extricate you from the snare into which you had fallen, but he implored Mr. Mason to lose no time in taking steps to prevent the false marriage.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

He even robbed Grey Beaver's snare of a rabbit at a time when Grey Beaver staggered and tottered through the forest, sitting down often to rest, what of weakness and of shortness of breath.

(White Fang, by Jack London)