snout
Americannoun
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the part of an animal's head projecting forward and containing the nose and jaws; muzzle.
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Entomology. an anterior prolongation of the head bearing the mouth parts, as in snout beetles.
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anything that resembles or suggests an animal's snout in shape, function, etc.
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a nozzle or spout.
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a person's nose, especially when large or prominent.
noun
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the part of the head of a vertebrate, esp a mammal, consisting of the nose, jaws, and surrounding region, esp when elongated
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the corresponding part of the head of such insects as weevils
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anything projecting like a snout, such as a nozzle or the lower end of a glacier
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slang a person's nose
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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
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slang a cigarette or tobacco
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slang an informer
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of snout
1175–1225; Middle English snute; cognate with Dutch snuite, German Schnauze
Explanation
An animal's long, protruding nose is often called a snout. The tricky part, though, is that not all long animal noses are called snouts. An elephant has a very long nose, but we don't call it a snout, we call it a trunk. A horse's nose is rarely referred to as a snout, because it's really their whole face that's long. Birds have beaks. Most dogs have a snout, except for pugs and boxers and other dogs with smashed-in faces. Bears have snouts, as do rats. Do yourself a favor, though, and never tell a person that they have a snout, no matter how large their nose is. Believe it or not, snout may actually be a cousin of the word snot: that should help you remember it!
Vocabulary lists containing snout
Charlotte's Web
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Top 50 Wordle Words of 2022
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"Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" by Lewis Carroll, Chapters 4–6
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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.
The fossil, housed at the Perot Museum, is missing the tip of its snout and shows a fractured lower jaw.
From Science Daily • May 23, 2026
It was slender, about 2 metres long, and it had a thin long snout specifically adapted for eating fish.
From BBC • Apr. 22, 2026
The dinosaur had large cheekbones, a broad braincase, and likely a short, deep snout.
From Science Daily • Apr. 15, 2026
Its long snout is reminiscent—perhaps not coincidentally—of early Jaguars.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 16, 2026
I flipped to a clean page in the sketch pad and made a line drawing of the snout, filling in the defensive wounds from the seal in all of the right spots.
From "The Line Tender" by Kate Allen
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.
