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Snipe

//snaɪp// name, noun, verb, slang

Definitions

Proper Noun
  1. 1
    A surname.
Noun
  1. 1
    Any of various limicoline game birds of the genera Gallinago, Lymnocryptes and Coenocorypha in the family Scolopacidae, having a long, slender, nearly straight beak.
  2. 2
    A cigarette butt. slang
  3. 3
    A sharp, clever answer; sarcasm.
  4. 4
    a gunshot from a concealed location wordnet
  5. 5
    A fool; a blockhead.

    "For I mine own gained knowledge should profane,/ If I would time expend with such a snipe,/ But for my sport and profit."

Show 9 more definitions
  1. 6
    An end of a log remaining after timber has been cut away.
  2. 7
    A note or sticker attached to an existing poster to provide further information (e.g. an event is sold out, political criticism, etc.).

    "[R]egular campaign posters are easily adapted to the student market by sniping them. […] The student snipe should say something like, "FOR STUDENTS ONLY: 5 EVENTS FOR AS LITTLE AS $20.00!""

  3. 8
    Old or New World straight-billed game bird of the sandpiper family; of marshy areas; similar to the woodcocks wordnet
  4. 9
    A shot fired from a concealed place.
  5. 10
    An animated promotional logo during a television show.
  6. 11
    A member of the engineering department on a ship. slang
  7. 12
    A strip of copy announcing some late breaking news or item of interest, typically placed in a print advertisement in such a way that it stands out from the ad.
  8. 13
    A goal. slang
  9. 14
    A bottle of wine measuring 0.1875 liters, one fourth the volume of a standard bottle; a quarter bottle or piccolo.
Verb
  1. 1
    To hunt snipe. intransitive

    "The pleasures of Bay bird shooting should not be spoken of in the same sentence with cocking or sniping."

  2. 2
    To make malicious, underhand remarks or attacks. intransitive

    "Capitalizing on the restive mood, Mr. Farage, the U.K. Independence Party leader, took out an advertisement in The Daily Telegraph this week inviting unhappy Tories to defect. In it Mr. Farage sniped that the Cameron government — made up disproportionately of career politicians who graduated from Eton and Oxbridge — was “run by a bunch of college kids, none of whom have ever had a proper job in their lives.”"

  3. 3
    attack in speech or writing wordnet
  4. 4
    To shoot at individuals from a concealed place. intransitive
  5. 5
    To attach a note or sticker to (an existing poster) to provide further information, political criticism, etc. transitive

    "Campus newspaper advertising rates are inexpensive, flyers can be simple because the ticket-price message is strong, and regular campaign posters are easily adapted to the student market by sniping them."

Show 7 more definitions
  1. 6
    aim and shoot with great precision wordnet
  2. 7
    To shoot with a sniper rifle. broadly, intransitive
  3. 8
    hunt or shoot snipe wordnet
  4. 9
    To watch a timed online auction and place a winning bid against (the current high bidder) at the last possible moment. transitive

    "I am the type who is liable to snipe you With two seconds left to go, whoa."

  5. 10
    To nose (a log) to make it drag or slip easily in skidding. transitive
  6. 11
    To score a goal. slang
  7. 12
    To move the ball quickly in a different direction.

    "The breakthrough duly arrived after 35 minutes, an absolute beauty of a team goal scored by Lozano. First Khedira was robbed deep in the Mexico half. Hernández sniped away from Jérôme Boateng and Mats Hummels. A flurry of skimmed passes across the wide-open spaces of the Germany defence left Lozano in space in the area. With the stadium howling for him to shoot he cut inside Özil, who had tracked back to right-back, and buried the ball past Neuer."

Etymology

Etymology 1

From Middle English snipe, snype (a type of bird), from Old Norse snípa, as in mýrisnípa (“moor snipe”). Akin to Norwegian snipe. The verb originated in the 1770s among soldiers in British India where a hunter skilled enough to kill the elusive snipe was dubbed a "sniper". The term sniper was first attested in 1824 in the sense of the word "sharpshooter".

Etymology 2

From Middle English snipe, snype (a type of bird), from Old Norse snípa, as in mýrisnípa (“moor snipe”). Akin to Norwegian snipe. The verb originated in the 1770s among soldiers in British India where a hunter skilled enough to kill the elusive snipe was dubbed a "sniper". The term sniper was first attested in 1824 in the sense of the word "sharpshooter".

Etymology 3

Probably from snip or a cognate

Etymology 4

Either from sneap or a figurative development from Etymology 1.

Etymology 5

Either from sneap or a figurative development from Etymology 1.

See also for "snipe"

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