snout

American  

[snout] / snaʊt /

noun

1. the part of an animal's head projecting forward and containing the nose and jaws; muzzle.

2. Entomology. an anterior prolongation of the head bearing the mouth parts, as in snout beetles.

3. anything that resembles or suggests an animal's snout in shape, function, etc.

4. a nozzle or spout.

5. a person's nose, especially when large or prominent.

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snout British  

/ snaʊt /

noun

1. the part of the head of a vertebrate, esp a mammal, consisting of the nose, jaws, and surrounding region, esp when elongated

2. the corresponding part of the head of such insects as weevils

3. anything projecting like a snout, such as a nozzle or the lower end of a glacier

4. slang a person's nose

5. Also called: snout moth.  a brownish noctuid moth, Hypena proboscidalis, that frequents nettles: named from the palps that project prominently from the head at rest

6. slang a cigarette or tobacco

7. slang an informer

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Other Word Forms

• snouted adjective
• snoutless adjective
• snoutlike adjective
• unsnouted adjective

Etymology

Origin of snout

1175–1225; Middle English snute; cognate with Dutch snuite, German Schnauze

Example Sentences

A sun bear shelters from the rain in Thailand's Kaeng Krachan National Park as a butterfly briefly rests on its snout.

From BBC • Mar. 25, 2026

I wanted to do right by Bingo, a little white Jindo mix with strawberry-blond ears and freckles all over her snout, whose inevitable death was already becoming an intrusive thought.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 28, 2026

The prehistoric species also had a straighter snout and smaller tusks.

From Science Daily • Dec. 12, 2025

The canine’s snout sliced determinedly through the water as it dog-paddled along, before eventually turning around and swimming back to Angel Island.

From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 11, 2025

The angler fish pointed its snout toward them.

From "Healer of the Water Monster" by Brian Young

Related Words

• beak
• nose
• trunk