snipe

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• /snaɪp/
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• rhymes with -aɪp
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• CMU ARPABET: S N AY1 P Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
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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".

Probably from snip or a cognate

Either from sneap or a figurative development from Etymology 1.

95 source translations are retained for this English entry.

• Afrikaans: snip — bird of the family Scolopacidae
• Armenian: մորակտցար (moraktcʻar) — bird of the family Scolopacidae
• Asturian: gacha — bird of the family Scolopacidae
• Breton: gioc'h — bird of the family Scolopacidae
• Bulgarian: бекас (bekas) — bird of the family Scolopacidae
• Catalan: becadell — bird of the family Scolopacidae
• Chinese Mandarin: 沙錐鳥 /沙锥鸟 (shāzhuīniǎo) — bird of the family Scolopacidae
• Cornish: kiogh — bird of the family Scolopacidae
• Czech: bekasina — bird of the family Scolopacidae
• Danish: bekkasin — bird of the family Scolopacidae
• Danish: hingstfugl — bird of the family Scolopacidae
• Dutch: snip — bird of the family Scolopacidae
• Faroese: snípa — bird of the family Scolopacidae
• Finnish: kurppa — bird of the family Scolopacidae
• Finnish: taivaanvuohi — bird of the family Scolopacidae
• French: bécassine — bird of the family Scolopacidae
• Galician: aguaneta — bird of the family Scolopacidae
• Galician: chiva — bird of the family Scolopacidae
• Galician: gacha — bird of the family Scolopacidae
• German: Schnepfe — bird of the family Scolopacidae
• Greek: μπεκατσίνι (bekatsíni) — bird of the family Scolopacidae
• Hebrew: חרטומן (khartomán) — bird of the family Scolopacidae
• Hungarian: szalonka — bird of the family Scolopacidae
• Icelandic: hrossagaukur — bird of the family Scolopacidae
• Ido: bekaseto — bird of the family Scolopacidae
• Irish: naoscach — bird of the family Scolopacidae
• Italian: beccaccia — bird of the family Scolopacidae
• Italian: beccaccino — bird of the family Scolopacidae
• Japanese: 田鴫 (tashigi) — bird of the family Scolopacidae
• Kazakh: тауқұдірет (tauqūdıret) — bird of the family Scolopacidae
• Latvian: sloka — bird of the family Scolopacidae
• Lithuanian: tilvikas — bird of the family Scolopacidae
• Macedonian: шљука (šljuka) — bird of the family Scolopacidae
• Navajo: tábąąsdísí — bird of the family Scolopacidae
• Norman: bécassine — bird of the family Scolopacidae
• Norwegian Bokmål: bekkasin — bird of the family Scolopacidae
• Norwegian Nynorsk: bekkasin — bird of the family Scolopacidae
• Norwegian Nynorsk: jordgeit — bird of the family Scolopacidae
• Norwegian Nynorsk: mekregauk — bird of the family Scolopacidae
• Norwegian Nynorsk: humregauk — bird of the family Scolopacidae
• Norwegian Nynorsk: rossgauk — bird of the family Scolopacidae
• Norwegian Nynorsk: skoddefugl — bird of the family Scolopacidae
• Polish: bekas — bird of the family Scolopacidae
• Polish: kszyk — bird of the family Scolopacidae
• Polish: bekas kszyk — bird of the family Scolopacidae
• Portuguese: narceja — bird of the family Scolopacidae
• Romanian: becațină — bird of the family Scolopacidae
• Romanian: becață — bird of the family Scolopacidae
• Russian: бека́с (bekás) — bird of the family Scolopacidae
• Scottish Gaelic: naosg — bird of the family Scolopacidae
• Scottish Gaelic: gobhar-adhair — bird of the family Scolopacidae
• Scottish Gaelic: crom-riabhach — bird of the family Scolopacidae
• Scottish Gaelic: bod-saic (Tiree) — bird of the family Scolopacidae
• Serbo-Croatian: šljuka — bird of the family Scolopacidae
• Slovene: sloka — bird of the family Scolopacidae
• Lower Sorbian: bjakut — bird of the family Scolopacidae
• Spanish: agachadiza — bird of the family Scolopacidae
• Spanish: agachona — bird of the family Scolopacidae
• Spanish: caica — bird of the family Scolopacidae
• Swedish: beckasin — bird of the family Scolopacidae
• Tatar: чуллык (çullıq) — bird of the family Scolopacidae
• Thai: นกปากซ่อม (nók-bpàak-sɔ̂m) — bird of the family Scolopacidae
• Turkish: su çulluğu — bird of the family Scolopacidae
• Turkish: bataklık çulluğu — bird of the family Scolopacidae
• Ukrainian: бека́с (bekás) — bird of the family Scolopacidae
• Vietnamese: dẽ giun — bird of the family Scolopacidae
• Welsh: gïach — bird of the family Scolopacidae
• Woiwurrung: kruk-wor-rum — bird of the family Scolopacidae
• Bulgarian: глупак (glupak) — fool, blockhead
• Finnish: tollo — fool, blockhead
• Finnish: tomppeli — fool, blockhead
• Finnish: pölkkypää — fool, blockhead
• Galician: bobo — fool, blockhead
• Galician: babeco — fool, blockhead
• Galician: babiolo — fool, blockhead
• Portuguese: bobo — fool, blockhead
• Portuguese: tolo — fool, blockhead
• Romanian: prost — fool, blockhead
• Romanian: nerod — fool, blockhead
• Romanian: nărod — fool, blockhead
• Bulgarian: изстрел от засада (izstrel ot zasada) — shot from a concealed place
• Finnish: salalaukaus — shot from a concealed place
• Hungarian: orvlövés — shot from a concealed place
• Finnish: laivamekaanikko — naval slang: member of the Engineering Department
• Bulgarian: фас (fas) — slang: cigarette butt
• Finnish: fimppi — slang: cigarette butt
• Finnish: tumppi — slang: cigarette butt
• Galician: cabicha — slang: cigarette butt
• Finnish: pikkolopullo — small wine bottle
• Bulgarian: стрелям от засада (streljam ot zasada) — shoot at individuals from a concealed place
• Japanese: 狙撃する (sogeki suru) — shoot at individuals from a concealed place
• Romanian: trage din ascunziș — shoot at individuals from a concealed place
• Thai: ซุ่มยิง (sûm-ying) — shoot at individuals from a concealed place
• Japanese: 狙撃する (sogeki suru) — shoot with a sniper rifle
• Thai: ซุ่มยิง (sûm-ying) — shoot with a sniper rifle