snare
1 Americannoun
verb (used with object)
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snares,
present (3rd person singular)
-
snared,
past participle, past
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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
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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:
"The ballista spider's snare is bioengineered to store elastic energy in the silk and rapidly release it, giving it incredible instantaneous power density -- greater than any other specialized silk-based biological catapults," said Professor Narendra.
From Science Daily ● Jun. 26, 2026
Experts say poaching in the region has waned, though a ranger found part of an old snare during AFP's visit.
From Barron's ● Jun. 25, 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
He could throw down a dunk, hit a 3-pointer, snare a crucial rebound and bottle up the other team’s best scorer, all in the same game.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 11, 2026
By the time we reached Philadelphia, I was like a jackrabbit sprung from a snare.
From "The Detective's Assistant" by Kate Hannigan
That includes shrinking the Fed’s balance sheet to stay out of fiscal policy, and avoiding other political snares.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 24, 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 her own roles, Qualley snares the viewer with a physical conviction so bold and confident that it’s difficult to look at any other actor when she’s in the frame.
From Salon ● Aug. 23, 2025
There are stories in that book of leaf-dabbing on injuries and chimps helping other chimps to remove snares from their limbs.
From BBC ● May 14, 2025
I recognized the twitch-up snares because my father had used them.
From "The Hunger Games" by Suzanne Collins
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
Lionsgate’s blockbuster Michael Jackson documentary, “Michael,” snared $20 million, bringing its total to $314 million.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 24, 2026
Next to exes like Madonna and Daryl Hannah, she was a commoner, a Calvin Klein stylist who somehow snared the heart of an American prince.
From Salon ● Feb. 12, 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
Her voice was soft but angry, as if it were the doctors’ fault Raymond’s foot got snared on a bicycle chain.
From "When I Was Puerto Rican" by Esmeralda Santiago
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
"Patrolling acts as a deterrent to future snaring, and therefore is an important measure to counteract the snaring crisis in Southeast Asia."
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.
