Dictionary.com
Thesaurus.com

snickersnee

American  
[snik-er-snee] / ˈsnɪk ərˌsni /

noun

  1. a knife, especially one used as a weapon.


snickersnee British  
/ ˈsnɪkəˌsniː /

noun

  1. a knife for cutting or thrusting

  2. a fight with knives

"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

Etymology

Origin of snickersnee

1690–1700; variant (by alliterative assimilation) of earlier stick or snee to thrust or cut < Dutch steken to stick 2 + snij ( d ) en to cut


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:

Tough old John Taber of New York took up his snickersnee, whacked $130 millions off with one slash.

From Time Magazine Archive

But on Saturday afternoons off he went to "Shadow Lawn," his summer mansion on the Jersey coast, and drew his snickersnee.

From Time Magazine Archive

Authoress Strauss specializes in the cultivated titter, the swift verbal snickersnee.

From Time Magazine Archive

A stowaway foretopman on the ship of state; a franc-tireur for the West and Christendom; a Burke, a Roland, a Quixote, with a whiff of Falstaff and a swing of the snickersnee.

From Time Magazine Archive

Oh, never shall I Forget the cry, Or the shriek that shrieked he, As I gnashed my teeth, When from its sheath I drew my snickersnee!

From The Complete Plays of Gilbert and Sullivan by Sir W. S. (William Schwenck) Gilbert

Random Word

Spin the wheel and learn a new word!

Get a word

Vocabulary.com logo
by dictionary.com

Look it up. Learn it forever.

Remember new words for good with VocabTrainer. Expand your vocabulary effortlessly with personalized learning tools that adapt to your goals.

Take me to Vocabulary.com