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

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

The manatee raised its fat snout out of the water to breathe and sniff at her, and Natalie felt a sudden kinship with it.

From Literature

Many a time I’d wake to feel his snout on my ankle, his breathing measured and loud.

From The Wall Street Journal

Mother turns her snout to glare at the dust-covered pups.

From Literature

Until recently, the length and shape of this distinctive snout were the primary traits used to identify the species.

From Science Daily

Related Words

• beak
• nose
• trunk