snare
1 Americannoun
verb (used with object)
-
snares,
present (3rd person singular)
-
snared,
past participle, past
-
snaring
present participle
-
to catch with a snare; entangle.
-
to catch or involve by trickery or wile.
to snare her into going.
noun
noun
-
a device for trapping birds or small animals, esp a flexible loop that is drawn tight around the prey
-
a surgical instrument for removing certain tumours, consisting of a wire loop that may be drawn tight around their base to sever or uproot them
-
anything that traps or entangles someone or something unawares
verb
-
to catch (birds or small animals) with a snare
-
to catch or trap in or as if in a snare; capture by trickery
noun
Synonym Usage
See trap 1.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
snaresimple
-
snaressimple
-
have snaredperfect
-
has snaredperfect
-
am snaringprogressive
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are snaringprogressive
-
is snaringprogressive
-
have been snaringperfect progressive
-
has been snaringperfect progressive
Past
-
snaredsimple
-
had snaredperfect
-
was snaringprogressive
-
were snaringprogressive
-
had been snaringperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of snare1
First recorded before 1100; Middle English (noun and verb); cognate with Old Norse snara, Middle Low German snare, Old High German snar(a)ha
Origin of snare2
1680–90; < Middle Low German snare or Middle Dutch snaer string; replacing Old English snēr string of a musical instrument
Explanation
A snare is a trap, usually for small animals, and using a noose. Snare can also mean to trap in general or any type of trap, like the snare of a TV cliffhanger that traps you into watching again. If writers are to be believed, we are surrounded by snares. Francis Beaumont implores us to know that “the world’s a snare.” And Hilda Doolittle asserts that “a snare is Love.” Still Soren Kierkegaard lets us know that “the truth is a snare: you cannot have it, without being caught.” Whoever is right, it seems that you can’t escape. A snare is also a type of small drum that rattles, as well as a wire loop used by surgeons.
Vocabulary lists containing snare
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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.
See Examples For:
Once released, the spring-loaded snare launches the ant more than 30 centimeters upward into the spider's main web.
From Science Daily ● Jun. 26, 2026
Within moments, scientists found green ants approached the trap and bit it - causing the snare to spring and the prey to be launched into the spider's web at "extreme" acceleration.
From BBC ● Jun. 23, 2026
“Two trumpets and a tuba, accompanied by thousands of snare drums.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 15, 2026
Kaley’s lawsuit is a test case chosen from among hundreds alleging that social media apps were designed to snare young kids and keep them hooked.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 27, 2026
The other way had been a snare indeed.
From "Rowan of Rin" by Emily Rodda
“With global commodity trade already facing notable logistical snares due to the ongoing closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a resumption in Houthi attacks in the Red Sea would add yet another layer of complexity.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 9, 2026
In the Republic of Ireland glue traps are not part of the registered traps and snares that can be used in a legal manner under the Wildlife Act.
From BBC ● Feb. 2, 2026
“Additionally, because concertina coils are rigid and stay under tension, they don’t ‘sag’ or create the loose, invisible snares that single-strand wires often do over time, which helps reduce the risk of accidental wildlife entanglement.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 1, 2026
In the 2018 book “Hinterland,” Phil A. Neel described the sound of America’s exurban sprawl as “guns cocking over trap snares unrolling to infinity.”
From Salon ● May 16, 2025
I made more snares and set these again, but while the wild dogs came close they would not touch the fish.
From "Island of the Blue Dolphins" by Scott O'Dell
The states are teaming up to try to derail Paramount’s merger, and have snared preliminary victories — prompting a concession from Paramount to put the merger on hold until after the trial.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 4, 2026
Jess Kerr ensured that batting nadir was avoided before she was snared by Issy Wong, but in truth it was England's spinners who appear key for what is to come later this summer.
From BBC ● May 25, 2026
Even those with lives, careers and families are fundamentally lost, snared between their pursuit of personal justice and instinctual self-preservation.
From Salon ● May 19, 2026
The left-armer snared three wickets in a dramatic over to flip the game on its head as the hosts were skittled for 116 with three balls to spare.
From Barron's ● Feb. 3, 2026
On others, he’d lie awake in bed, beneath pinups of movie cowboy Tom Mix and his wonder horse, Tony, feeling snared on something from which he couldn’t kick free.
From "Unbroken" by Laura Hillenbrand
FBAR, far from snaring high rollers, sets the amount at $10,000.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 17, 2026
Neither player dropped serve in set one but there were three breaks to start the next set, with Anisimova snaring two of them before Wang had a medical timeout.
From Barron's ● Jan. 26, 2026
The greatest threat these large carnivores face is habitat loss, while snaring and a declining prey base also play a role.
From BBC ● Nov. 3, 2025
To date, few studies have assessed the impact of snare removal on snaring levels over long time periods.
From Science Daily ● Jun. 3, 2024
Perhaps to shift my mind from my worries, he showed me how he did his snaring, using a few long strands of horsetail hair that he kept in his bag.
From "Crispin: The Cross of Lead" by Avi
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.
