snore
Americanverb (used without object)
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snores,
present (3rd person singular)
-
snored,
past participle, past
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snoring
present participle
verb (used with object)
-
snores,
present (3rd person singular)
-
snored,
past participle, past
-
snoring
present participle
noun
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snores
plural
-
the act, instance, or sound of snoring.
-
Slang. a person or thing that is dull and boring.
Eighth grade is such a snore.
verb
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
snoresimple
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snoressimple
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have snoredperfect
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has snoredperfect
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am snoringprogressive
-
are snoringprogressive
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is snoringprogressive
-
have been snoringperfect progressive
-
has been snoringperfect progressive
Past
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snoredsimple
-
had snoredperfect
-
was snoringprogressive
-
were snoringprogressive
-
had been snoringperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of snore
1300–50; Middle English snoren (v.); cognate with Middle Low German, Middle Dutch snorren
Explanation
If you snore, you breathe loudly through your nose while you're asleep. If your roommate snores, you may need to get yourself some ear plugs so that you can sleep. Most of us snore occasionally when we're congested, but some people snore every time they sleep. This kind of snore can be a serious health problem, since air isn't flowing easily in and out as the snorer breathes. In some cases, snoring is connected to sleep apnea, which means a sleeper actually stops breathing several times throughout the night. Colloquially, a snore is also a dull, boring thing: "The movie was a total snore."
Vocabulary lists containing snore
Festival of Sleep Day
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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:
Out of school for the summer, some kids chase each other around vendor booths while others snore in strollers next to their parents.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 28, 2026
The way they speed and slow, roar and snore, constantly balancing thrust to counteract changing winds?
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 17, 2025
However, these teens who snored did not exhibit any differences in their reading and language abilities, nor any difference on memory or cognitive processing tests compared to their peers who did not snore.
From Science Daily ● Nov. 21, 2024
"With the AI, it can be trained to know what you sound like specifically when you snore," a representative insists.
From BBC ● Jan. 12, 2024
After Pearl had begun to snore softly, Mia kept her hand in place, as if she were a sculptor shaping Pearl’s shoulder blades.
From "Little Fires Everywhere" by Celeste Ng
She says Betty is now "very eager to learn. She snores but other than that she's really quite incredible".
From BBC ● Dec. 6, 2025
When Aggie describes the project that has her stymied—a book on the relationship between Supreme Court justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Antonin Scalia—he snores.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 13, 2025
Indeed, sleep apnea may be yet another of the great undiagnosed epidemics: Virtually anyone who snores is at the very least on the spectrum for sleep apnea, as Sullivan pointed out.
From Salon ● Oct. 23, 2023
My husband sleeps very soundly and he sometimes snores, so quite a lot of the time his job is to get up with our daughter, which I’m very appreciative of.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 7, 2023
Even though Uncle Jet was sleeping in the living room, his snores traveled down the hallways and shook his bedroom walls, keeping Nathan up.
From "Healer of the Water Monster" by Brian Young
Dogs snored next to their owners, who were glued to their phones, screens lighting up weary faces.
From Barron's ● Aug. 16, 2026
Around her, people snored, babies cried and dogs barked.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 3, 2026
However, these teens who snored did not exhibit any differences in their reading and language abilities, nor any difference on memory or cognitive processing tests compared to their peers who did not snore.
From Science Daily ● Nov. 21, 2024
She added that she thought surgery would work because Debbie had not snored before her accident.
From BBC ● Aug. 29, 2024
Belet snored softly, and I stared at the ceiling.
From "City of the Plague God" by Sarwat Chadda
We always have grand plans about watching a movie or whatever, and then we’re both inevitably snoring by 10 p.m. at the latest.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 14, 2026
As snoring is relatively common, it is often left untreated and dismissed as a harmless irritation.
From BBC ● Sep. 10, 2026
Have you ever slept next to a snoring partner and woken up feeling stressed, unfocused or forgetful the next day?
From BBC ● Sep. 10, 2026
Sleeping with 60 people in a damp basement that proves snoring is an international language.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 25, 2026
Lying there snoring and sleeping like a lazy little idiot, and all the while Redwall Abbey and his friends were under attack!
From "Redwall" by Brian Jacques
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.
