snare1
[snair]
- a device, often consisting of a noose, for capturing small game.
- anything serving to entrap or entangle unawares; trap.
- Surgery. a wire noose for removing tumors or the like by the roots or at the base.
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- to catch with a snare; entangle.
- to catch or involve by trickery or wile: to snare her into going.
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Origin of snare1
before 1100; Middle English (noun and v.); cognate with Old Norse snara, Middle Low German snare, Old High German snar(a)ha
Synonyms
See more synonyms for on Thesaurus.comsnare2
[snair]
- one of the strings of gut or of tightly spiraled metal stretched across the skin of a snare drum.
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Origin of snare2
1680–90; < Middle Low German snare or Middle Dutch snaer string; replacing Old English snēr string of a musical instrument
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Related Words
entangle, enmesh, corral, lure, wire, bait, temptation, decoy, trick, enticement, come-on, catch, noose, net, allurement, deception, pitfall, quicksand, entrapment, seduceExamples from the Web for snare
Contemporary Examples
Still more keys engage an array of other sounds, from snare drums and cymbals to awooga horns and sirens.
Meant to capture fish by the gills (hence the name), they snare anything from sea turtles to dolphins.
New Report Reveals U.S. Fisheries Killing Thousands of Protected and Endangered SpeciesAbby Haglage
March 23, 2014
After police confronted Dilello with the wiretaps, she agreed to wear a wire to snare Hagiwara and admit her role in the plot.
Should Mr. Greenberg snare a major settlement without A.I.G., the company could face additional lawsuits from other shareholders.
It has snared, or threatens to snare, millions of taxpayers in the middle class and above.
How Did We Leave Behind A Whopping Middle-class Tax Hike?December 21, 2012
Historical Examples
You are, indeed, fortunate in having escaped from the snare he laid for you.
Brave and BoldHoratio Alger
And when he saw I was not to be led, he endeavoured to drive me into the snare.
The Memoirs of Cardinal de Retz, CompleteJean Francois Paul de Gondi, Cardinal de Retz
Which does not mean, however, that they are far from the snare.
The Book of KhalidAmeen Rihani
It is a snare in which souls of average virtue often become entangled.
The Fat and the ThinEmile Zola
Let not his natural affections be as the snare of the fowler unto his feet.
The ManxmanHall Caine
snare1
- 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
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- to catch (birds or small animals) with a snare
- to catch or trap in or as if in a snare; capture by trickery
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Word Origin
Old English sneare, from Old Norse snara; related to Old High German snaraha
snare2
- music a set of gut strings wound with wire fitted against the lower drumhead of a snare drum. They produce a rattling sound when the drum is beatenSee snare drum
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Word Origin
C17: from Middle Dutch snaer or Middle Low German snare string; related to Gothic snōrjō basket
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for snare
n.1
"noose for catching animals," late Old English, from a Scandinavian source, cf. Old Norse snara "noose, snare," related to soenri "twisted rope," from Proto-Germanic *snarkho (cf. Middle Dutch snare, Dutch snaar, Old High German snare, German Schnur "noose, cord," Old English snear "a string, cord"). Figuratively from c.1300.
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n.2
"string across a drum," 1680s, probably from Dutch snaar "string," from same source as snare (n.1). From 1938 as short for snare-drum (1873).
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v.
late 14c., "to ensnare," from snare (n.1). Related: Snared; snaring.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
snare
(snâr)- A surgical instrument with a wire loop controlled by a mechanism in the handle, used to remove growths, such as tumors and polyps.
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The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.