# snarl
## English
### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ˈsnɑː(ɹ)l/
* Audio (Southern England):(file)
* Rhymes: -ɑː(ɹ)l

### Etymology 1

From Middle English snarlen, frequentative of snaren (“to trap, tangle”). Equivalent to snare +‎ -le.

#### Verb

snarl (third-person singular simple present snarls, present participle snarling, simple past and past participle snarled)
* (transitive) To entangle; to complicate; to involve in knots.
    to snarl a skein of thread
** 1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book III, Canto XII”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, stanza 17:And from her backe her garments she did teare, / And from her head oft rent her snarled heare […]
* (intransitive) To become entangled.
* (transitive) To place in an embarrassing situation; to ensnare; to make overly complicated.
** November 9, 1550, Hugh Latimer, Sermon Preached at Stanford
    [the] question that they would have snarled him with
* (transitive, intransitive) To be congested in traffic, or to make traffic congested.
* To form raised work upon the outer surface of (thin metal ware) by the repercussion of a snarling iron upon the inner surface; to repoussé

##### Derived terms

* ensnarl
* snarl up, snarl-up
* snarling iron
* unsnarl

##### Translations
#### Noun

snarl (plural snarls)
* A knot or complication of hair, thread, or the like, difficult to disentangle.
    Synonym: entanglement
* An intricate complication; a problematic difficulty; a knotty or tangled situation.
    Synonym: imbroglio
* A slow-moving traffic jam.
** 2019 November 21, Samanth Subramanian, “How our home delivery habit reshaped the world”, in The Guardian‎:The biggest cities feel the most acute impact of the last mile – of the squads of trucks and vans, the parcel hubs and sorting centres, the parking snarls and the discarded boxes.

##### Translations
### Etymology 2

Frequentative of earlier snar (“to growl”), perhaps from Middle Low German snorren (“to drone”), of probably imitative origin. Equivalent to snar +‎ -le. Related to German schnarren (“to rattle”) and schnurren (“to hum, buzz”).

#### Verb

snarl (third-person singular simple present snarls, present participle snarling, simple past and past participle snarled)
* (intransitive) To growl angrily by gnashing or baring the teeth; to gnarl; to utter grumbling sounds.
* (transitive) To complain angrily; to utter growlingly.
* (intransitive) To speak crossly; to talk in rude, surly terms.
** 1697, John Dryden, “Preface to the Pastorals, with a Short Defence of Virgil, against Some of the Reflections of Monsieur Fontanelle [i.e., Bernard Le Bovier de Fontenelle]”, in Virgil, translated by John Dryden, The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC:It is malicious and unmanly to snarl at the little lapses of a pen, from which Virgil himself stands not exempted.

##### Derived terms

* snarling
* snarlingly

##### Translations
#### Noun

snarl (plural snarls)
* The act of snarling; a growl; a surly or peevish expression; an angry contention.
* A growl, for example that of an angry or surly dog, or similar; grumbling sounds.
* A squabble.

##### Derived terms

* snarl word

##### Translations
### Further reading

* “snarl”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
* “snarl”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
* “snarl”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
* Douglas Harper (2001–2024) “snarl”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.
* “snarl”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.

### Anagrams

* larns

## Icelandic
### Etymology

Deverbal from snarla.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /s(t)nartl/
* Rhymes: -artl

### Noun

snarl n (genitive singular snarls, no plural)
* snack (light meal)

#### See also

* snakk

## Middle English
### Alternative forms

* snarle

### Etymology

Either from snare +‎ -el or a back-formation from snarlen.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /snarl/

### Noun

snarl (plural snarles) (rare)
* A trap for catching animals.
* A noose or snare (rope loop)
* (figuratively) A temptation or peril.

#### Descendants

* English: snarl
* Scots: snarl

#### References

* “snarl(e, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.