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Snifter

//ˈsnɪftə// noun, verb, slang

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A sniff. Northern-England, Scotland
  2. 2
    a globular glass with a small top; used for serving brandy wordnet
  3. 3
    A strong or severe wind. Northern-England, Scotland, figuratively
  4. 4
    A small, wide, pear-shaped glass used for drinking aromatic liquors such as bourbon and brandy. figuratively

    "[H]e springs to another wooden vat and turns a valve, filling a snifter with a warm amber liquid. […] Bang holds the liquid up to the light, swirls it around, takes a sniff of the pungent bouquet, puts the glass to his lips—and gives a satisfied smile."

  5. 5
    Synonym of nip (“a small amount of an alcoholic beverage, especially one equivalent to what a snifter (noun sense 2.2) might hold”) figuratively, informal

    ""Sit down, bo," invited Soup Face. "I guess you're a regular all right. Here, have a snifter?" and he pulled a flask from his side pocket, holding it toward The Oskaloosa Kid."

Show 3 more definitions
  1. 6
    Synonym of cocaine addict; a sniffer. US, figuratively, slang
  2. 7
    A small amount of cocaine taken by inhaling through the nose. US, figuratively, slang
  3. 8
    A handheld device used to detect signals from radio transmitters; a sniffer. US, figuratively, slang
Verb
  1. 1
    To sniff; also, to snivel or snuffle. intransitive

    "Brouffer. To ſnurt, or ſnifter vvith the noſe, like a horſe."

  2. 2
    Followed by out: to speak (words) in a nasal, snuffling manner. archaic, rare, transitive

Etymology

Etymology 1

The verb is derived from Middle English snifteren, snifter, snyfter (“to sniffle”), possibly from *snift (possibly derived from a Old Norse word—compare Old Danish snifte and Swedish snyfta (“to sniffle; to sob”); probably ultimately imitative) + -er- (frequentative suffix) + -en (suffix forming the infinitive of verbs). The noun is derived from the verb.

Etymology 2

The verb is derived from Middle English snifteren, snifter, snyfter (“to sniffle”), possibly from *snift (possibly derived from a Old Norse word—compare Old Danish snifte and Swedish snyfta (“to sniffle; to sob”); probably ultimately imitative) + -er- (frequentative suffix) + -en (suffix forming the infinitive of verbs). The noun is derived from the verb.

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