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
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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
A new species of spider which weaves a catapult-like silk trap to snare a single type of ant has been discovered in the remote rainforests of northern Australia.
From BBC ● Jun. 23, 2026
Also percussive yet much quieter is Anri Sala’s snare drum, dangling upside down from the ceiling at Esther Schipper.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 14, 2026
Some scientists thought these fish-eating creatures may have been fully aquatic, gliding through deep waters to snare prey.
From Barron's ● Feb. 27, 2026
As I go along, carefully resetting each snare, I know I can never quite replicate his eye for balance, his instinct for where the prey will cross the path.
From "Catching Fire" by Suzanne Collins
However, other wild dogs tracked with GPS collars in the study died in illegal snares, underlining the dangers they face.
From BBC ● Sep. 14, 2026
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
Where Black differs from other celebrities who stride through the culture war’s snares is that he doesn’t simply claim to not have any answers, and leave it at that.
From Salon ● Apr. 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
Then there was the day when I asked him to teach me how to make the snares he used to catch rabbits and birds.
From "Crispin: The Cross of Lead" by Avi
Kelce is not the first sports star to be snared in an investment scheme.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 18, 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
Lionsgate’s blockbuster Michael Jackson documentary, “Michael,” snared $20 million, bringing its total to $314 million.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 24, 2026
But where its cinematic peers get snared by trying to elucidate the truth of the pop star, Lowery’s film skates past the conventions and trappings, landing on something high-concept but deceptively straightforward.
From Salon ● Apr. 24, 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
The Romanian filmmaker’s stoic drama is designed to provoke viewers in opposite directions, snaring them in waiting traps and causing them to concede in agony, “You have a point!”
From Salon ● Sep. 19, 2026
Websites purporting to offer demo versions of the forthcoming “Grand Theft Auto” version VI are snaring gamers in malware, according to cybersecurity company Malwarebytes.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 26, 2026
FBAR, far from snaring high rollers, sets the amount at $10,000.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 17, 2026
Still, for all of the song's sass and flippancy, Raye is deadly serious about snaring a partner.
From BBC ● Sep. 29, 2025
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.
