sneck

¹ American  

[snek] / snɛk /

noun

Scot. and North England.

1. a door latch or its lever.

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sneck ² American  

[snek] / snɛk /

noun

1. a small stone, as a spall, inserted into the spaces between larger pieces of rubble in a wall.

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verb (used with object)

1. to fill (spaces between larger stones) with snecks.

sneck ¹ British  

/ snɛk /

noun

1. a small squared stone used in a rubble wall to fill spaces between stones of different height

2. dialect the latch or catch of a door or gate

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verb

1. dialect to fasten (a latch)

sneck ² British  

/ snɛk /

noun

1. a Scot word for snick

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Other Word Forms

• snecker
  noun

Etymology

Origin of sneck¹

1275–1325; Middle English snek ( k ); cf. snatch

Origin of sneck²

1275–1325; Middle English; origin uncertain

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

sneck

What happened then was like the dismal sneck of the outside gate to Davy for ten years thereafter.

From Capt'n Davy's Honeymoon by Sir Hall Caine

I heard a movement o' the sneck behind.

From Wilson's Tales of the Borders and of Scotland, Volume III by Various

Or the briefer formula, referring only to the brow, the eye, the nose, and the mouth, which runs:— Chap at the door, Keek in, Lift the sneck, Walk in.

From Children's Rhymes, Children's Games, Children's Songs, Children's Stories A Book for Bairns and Big Folk by Robert Ford

As it is more than fifteen miles to the mission, and they have not eaten since morning, they resolve to make halt, and have a sneck.

From The Death Shot A Story Retold by Mayne Reid

"What's that?" cried Mattha from within; "I thought it might be the sneck of a gate."

From The Shadow of a Crime A Cumbrian Romance by Sir Hall Caine