noun
Meaning 1
A sniff.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: Northern-England, Scotland
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Standard Lemma guide
snifter
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.
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Received-Pronunciation: /ˈsnɪftə/
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Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
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General-American: /ˈsnɪftəɹ/
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rhymes with -ɪftə(ɹ)
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CMU ARPABET: S N IH1 F T ER0 Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
noun
Meaning 2
A strong or severe wind.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: Northern-England, Scotland, figuratively
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 3
A small, wide, pear-shaped glass used for drinking aromatic liquors such as bourbon and brandy.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: figuratively
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: brandy bowl, brandy glass, brandy snifter, cognac glass, whiskey glass
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 4
Synonym of nip (“a small amount of an alcoholic beverage, especially one equivalent to what a snifter (noun sense 2.2) might hold”)
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: figuratively, informal
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: nip
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 5
Synonym of cocaine addict; a sniffer.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: US, figuratively, slang
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: cocaine addict
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 6
A small amount of cocaine taken by inhaling through the nose.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: US, figuratively, slang
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 7
A handheld device used to detect signals from radio transmitters; a sniffer.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: US, figuratively, slang
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
verb
Meaning 8
To sniff; also, to snivel or snuffle.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: intransitive
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
verb
Meaning 9
Followed by out: to speak (words) in a nasal, snuffling manner.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: archaic, rare, transitive
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 10
a globular glass with a small top; used for serving brandy
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: brandy snifter, brandy glass
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: glass, drinking glass
History
Etymology
The verb is derived from Middle English snifteren, snifter, snyfter (“to sniffle”), possibly from *snift (possibly derived from an 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.
Across languages
Translations
29 source translations are retained for this English entry.
- Armenian: ըմպանակ (əmpanak) — small, wide, pear-shaped glass
- Bulgarian: чаша за коняк (čaša za konjak) — small, wide, pear-shaped glass
- Chuvash: черкке (čerkke) — small, wide, pear-shaped glass
- Finnish: aromilasi — small, wide, pear-shaped glass
- French: ballon — small, wide, pear-shaped glass
- French: pipe à cognac — small, wide, pear-shaped glass
- French: verre à cognac — small, wide, pear-shaped glass
- German: Kognakglas — small, wide, pear-shaped glass
- German: Kognakschwenker — small, wide, pear-shaped glass
- German: Nosing-Glas — small, wide, pear-shaped glass
- Hebrew: כוס ברנדי סניפטר — small, wide, pear-shaped glass
- Italian: snifter — small, wide, pear-shaped glass
- Italian: napoleone — small, wide, pear-shaped glass
- Japanese: スニフター (sunifutā) — small, wide, pear-shaped glass
- Japanese: スニフターグラス (sunifutāgurasu) — small, wide, pear-shaped glass
- Japanese: ブランデーグラス (burandēgurasu) — small, wide, pear-shaped glass
- Japanese: テイスティンググラス (teisutingugurasu) — small, wide, pear-shaped glass
- Russian: рю́мка (rjúmka) — small, wide, pear-shaped glass
- Spanish: coñaquera — small, wide, pear-shaped glass
- Spanish: copa balón — small, wide, pear-shaped glass
- Spanish: copa de brandy — small, wide, pear-shaped glass
- Spanish: copa de coñac — small, wide, pear-shaped glass
- Swedish: konjakskupa — small, wide, pear-shaped glass
- Turkish: brendi bardağı — small, wide, pear-shaped glass
- Ukrainian: ча́рка (čárka) — small, wide, pear-shaped glass
- Uzbek: ryumka — small, wide, pear-shaped glass
- Bulgarian: линийка (linijka) — small amount of cocaine taken by inhaling through the nose
- Finnish: annos — small amount of cocaine taken by inhaling through the nose
- Finnish: honottaa — to speak (words) in a nasal, snuffling manner