snipe
Americannoun
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Also snite any of several long-billed game birds of the genera Gallinago (sometimesCapella ) and Limnocryptes, inhabiting marshy areas, as G. gallinago common snipe, orwhole snipe, of Eurasia and North America, having barred and striped white, brown, and black plumage.
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any of several other long-billed birds, as some sandpipers.
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a shot, usually from a hidden position.
verb (used without object)
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to shoot or hunt snipe.
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to shoot at individuals as opportunity offers from a concealed or distant position.
The enemy was sniping from the roofs.
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to attack a person or a person's work with petulant or snide criticism, especially anonymously or from a safe distance.
noun
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any of various birds of the genus Gallinago (or Capella ) and related genera, such as G. gallinago ( common or Wilson's snipe ), of marshes and river banks, having a long straight bill: family Scolopacidae (sandpipers, etc), order Charadriiformes
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any of various similar related birds, such as certain sandpipers and curlews
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a shot, esp a gunshot, fired from a place of concealment
verb
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to attack (a person or persons) with a rifle from a place of concealment
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to criticize adversely a person or persons from a position of security
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(intr) to hunt or shoot snipe
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Conjugated Forms
Present
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have snipedperfect
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has snipedperfect 3rd person singular
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have been snipingperfect progressive
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has been snipingperfect progressive 3rd person singular
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snipingparticiple
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snipessingular 3rd person
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is snipingprogressive 3rd person singular
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are snipingprogressive
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am snipingprogressive 1st person singular
Past
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had snipedperfect
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were snipingprogressive plural
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was snipingprogressive singular
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had been snipingperfect progressive
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snipedsimple
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snipedparticiple
Future
Etymology
Origin of snipe
First recorded in 1275–1325; Middle English snype (noun), from Old Norse -snīpa (in mȳrisnīpa “moor snipe”); cognate with Norwegian snipa, Icelandic snīpa; compare Danish sneppe, German Schnepfe
Explanation
A long-beaked bird that lives in marshes and swamps is called a snipe. As a verb, to snipe is to attack someone in a snide way — something a snipe would never do, because birds aren't that petty. You can find the well-camouflaged shorebird known as the snipe just about everywhere in the world. These birds are famously difficult for hunters to shoot, as they blend in well with their surroundings and have an erratic flight pattern. This is where the word sniper, or sharpshooter, comes from, in addition to the definition of snipe that means "shoot from a hiding place." The figurative sense of "attack someone verbally" followed.
Vocabulary lists containing snipe
Dog Squad
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Small Spaces
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Katt Loves Dogg
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
In the coming years, birds like Cooper’s Hawk, Wilson’s Snipe, and Lincoln’s Sparrow will be stripped of their eponyms and given new common English names.
From Slate • Jan. 25, 2024
The other two works, by the faculty members Men Ca and Michael Snipe Jr., are hamstrung by the contemporary pseudo-cinematic clichés of music by Max Richter and Kerry Muzzey.
From New York Times • Jun. 10, 2022
The National Association of the Deaf arranged to have Sean Forbes and Warren Snipe, also referred to as “WaWa,” perform sign language interpretations of the songs performed by the headliners.
From Seattle Times • Feb. 10, 2022
The internet had positive things to write about Warren Snipe, too, who performed the sign language versions of “America the Beautiful” and the “Star-Spangled Banner.”
From Washington Times • Feb. 7, 2021
The Wilson Snipe nests in meadows and swamps.
From Endurance Test or, How Clear Grit Won the Day by Douglas, Alan
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
