Library / English Dictionary

SNUFF

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Sensing an odor by inhaling through the nose

Synonyms:

sniff; snuff

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

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

smell; smelling (the act of perceiving the odor of something)

Derivation:

snuff (inhale (something) through the nose)

snuff (sniff or smell inquiringly)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Finely powdered tobacco for sniffing up the nose

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

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

baccy; tobacco (leaves of the tobacco plant dried and prepared for smoking or ingestion)

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

rappee (strong snuff made from dark coarse tobacco)

Sense 3

Meaning:

A pinch of smokeless tobacco inhaled at a single time

Classified under:

Nouns denoting quantities and units of measure

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

hint; jot; mite; pinch; soupcon; speck; tinge; touch (a slight but appreciable amount)

Sense 4

Meaning:

The charred portion of a candlewick

Classified under:

Nouns denoting substances

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

char (a charred substance)

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

candlewick (the wick of a candle)

 II. (adjective) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Snuff colored; of a greyish to yellowish brown

Synonyms:

chukker-brown; mummy-brown; snuff; snuff-brown

Classified under:

Adjectives

Similar:

chromatic (being or having or characterized by hue)

 III. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Inhale (something) through the nose

Example:

snuff coke

Classified under:

Verbs of grooming, dressing and bodily care

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

breathe in; inhale; inspire (draw in (air))

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

snuff (sensing an odor by inhaling through the nose)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Sniff or smell inquiringly

Synonyms:

snuff; snuffle

Classified under:

Verbs of seeing, hearing, feeling

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

smell (inhale the odor of; perceive by the olfactory sense)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

snuff (sensing an odor by inhaling through the nose)

Credits

 Context examples: 

After looking at Mrs. Gummidge for some moments, in sore distress of mind, he glanced at the Dutch clock, rose, snuffed the candle, and put it in the window.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

“Your experience has been a most entertaining one,” remarked Holmes as his client paused and refreshed his memory with a huge pinch of snuff.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

He snuffed round the prostrate group, and then he ran up to me; it was all he could do,—there was no other help at hand to summon.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

My uncle shrugged his shoulders carelessly, and took a pinch of his snuff with that inimitable sweeping gesture which no man has ever ventured to imitate.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

The dimness of the light her candle emitted made her turn to it with alarm; but there was no danger of its sudden extinction; it had yet some hours to burn; and that she might not have any greater difficulty in distinguishing the writing than what its ancient date might occasion, she hastily snuffed it.

(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)

I was turned over to him now, and when I saw him take his snuff and let the business go, I regretted my aunt's thousand pounds more than ever.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

Well, the snuff, then, and the Freemasonry?

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

So I snuffed the candle and resumed the perusal of "Marmion."

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

Mad as Bedlam, boy!” said Mr. Dick, taking snuff from a round box on the table, and laughing heartily.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

Beyond the obvious facts that he has at some time done manual labour, that he takes snuff, that he is a Freemason, that he has been in China, and that he has done a considerable amount of writing lately, I can deduce nothing else.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)