Standard Lemma guide

sny

noun · verb · 6 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

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.

  • Received-Pronunciation, US: snī
  • Received-Pronunciation, US: /snaɪ/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • rhymes with -aɪ
  • UK: snī
  • UK: /snʌɪ/

1

noun

Meaning 1

Upward curving observed in the planks of a wooden ship or boat.

An upward curve at the edge of a plank.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: business, manufacturing, shipbuilding

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

Upward curving observed in the planks of a wooden ship or boat.

An upward curve in the lines of a wooden watercraft from amidships toward its bow and its stern.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: business, manufacturing, shipbuilding

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

A small channel of water.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: archaic

Examples

  • 1893, Mark Twain, Tom Sawyer Abroad, Tom Sawyer, Detective and Other Stories (1896), page unknown “Well, Mars Tom, my idea is like dis. It ain’t no use, we can’t kill dem po’ strangers dat ain’t doin’ us no harm, till we’ve had practice — I knows it perfectly well, Mars Tom — ‛deed I knows it perfectly well. But ef we takes a’ ax or two, jist you en me en Huck, en slips acrost de river to-night arter de moon’s gone down, en kills dat sick fam’ly dat’s over on the Sny, en burns dey house down, en —”

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

noun

Meaning 4

Initialism of sensitive needs yard (“part of a prison for prisoners who cannot safely be housed with the general population”).

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: abbreviation, alt-of, initialism

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: SNU

Antonyms: none provided

5

verb

Meaning 5

To move, proceed.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: intransitive, obsolete, rare

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

6

verb

Meaning 6

Abound, swarm, teem, be infested, with something

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: dialectal, intransitive

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

First attested in 1711; its etymology is unknown; perhaps from Proto-Germanic *snōwaną, from Proto-Indo-European *sneh1- (“to wind; twist; braid; plait”). Compare snying and the Danish sno (“to twine”, “to twist”).

First attested with this spelling in 1893; see snye.

Of obscure origin. Likely from late Middle English sniȝen, snyȝen (“to creep”), from Old Danish *snigæ (whence modern Danish snige), from Old Norse sníkja (“to crawl, creep”). If so, doublet of sneak.

First attested in 1674; its etymology is unknown.

Across languages

Translations

1 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Russian: кише́ть (kišétʹ) — to swarm, teem, be infested with something