snare

¹ American  

[snair] / snɛər /

noun

1. a device, often consisting of a noose, for capturing small game.

2. anything serving to entrap or entangle unawares; trap.

   Synonyms:

   pitfall, net

3. Surgery. a wire noose for removing tumors or the like by the roots or at the base.

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verb (used with object)

snared, snaring

1. to catch with a snare; entangle.

2. to catch or involve by trickery or wile.

   to snare her into going.

snare ² American  

[snair] / snɛər /

noun

1. one of the strings of gut or of tightly spiraled metal stretched across the skin of a snare drum.

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snare ¹ British  

/ snɛə /

noun

1. a device for trapping birds or small animals, esp a flexible loop that is drawn tight around the prey

2. 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

3. anything that traps or entangles someone or something unawares

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verb

1. to catch (birds or small animals) with a snare

2. to catch or trap in or as if in a snare; capture by trickery

snare ² British  

/ snɛə /

noun

1. 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 beaten See snare drum

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Related Words

See trap ¹.

Other Word Forms

• snareless adjective
• snarer noun
• snaringly adverb
• unsnared adjective

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.

Example Sentences

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

On Everybody's Trying To Figure Me Out, she even tuned her snare drum to match the "iconic" thwack of U2's Sunday Bloody Sunday.

From BBC • Dec. 13, 2025

The closing number, “Match-Lit,” features a moody production with a clanging snare drum and bits of pedal-steel guitar.

From The Wall Street Journal • Sep. 30, 2025

The snare hit is one of the most iconic moments in pop history.

From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 4, 2025

And every morning, when the rabbit wasn't caught, she'd retie that snare, same as she did the day before.

From "Dread Nation" by Justina Ireland

Related Words

• corral
• enmesh
• entangle
• pull in
• round up