snout

American  

[snaut] / snaʊt /

noun

• snouts
  plural

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

Derived Forms

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

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• snouts
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of snout

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

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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!

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

snout snouts

The viper, which has two hornlike projections on its snout, feeds mainly on rodents and ground-dwelling birds.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 29, 2026

"Males are the only pigs whose upper tusks erupt through the snout bone and curve back towards their face."

From BBC ● Aug. 12, 2026

The artwork depicts a fantastical creature combining multiple striking features, including a spiral horn, elongated snout, hooked teeth, wings, and a serpentine tail.

From Science Daily ● May 4, 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

So I hiked around the snout to the side where I thought the scar had been and I crouched in the shadow of a large fin, to see the gray side of the shark.

From "The Line Tender" by Kate Allen

In this alternate universe, beautiful people have pig snouts, distorted mouths, and sagging cheeks.

From Slate ● Sep. 2, 2026

According to the researchers, this feature more closely resembles the elongated snouts seen in modern crocodiles.

From Science Daily ● Jun. 13, 2026

But that shows how keen they are to get their snouts in the trough of Musk’s future equity sales.

From MarketWatch ● Jun. 10, 2026

Giant anteaters have black and white diagonal stripes, dense shaggy hair and super-sized snouts.

From BBC ● Apr. 1, 2026

The black tips of their shoes poked out from under their cuffs like the snouts of wily animals.

From "How the García Girls Lost Their Accents" by Julia Alvarez

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Related Words

• beak
• nose
• trunk

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