# snifter
## English
### Etymology

The verb is derived from Middle English snifteren, snifter, snyfter (“to sniffle”), possibly from *snift (possibly derived from a Old Norse word—compare Old Danish snifte and Swedish snyfta (“to sniffle; to sob”); probably ultimately imitative) + -er- (frequentative suffix) + -en (suffix forming the infinitive of verbs).
The noun is derived from the verb.

### Pronunciation

* (Received Pronunciation) IPA: /ˈsnɪftə/
* Audio (Southern England):(file)
* (General American) IPA: /ˈsnɪftəɹ/
* Rhymes: -ɪftə(ɹ)
* Hyphenation: snift‧er

### Verb

snifter (third-person singular simple present snifters, present participle sniftering, simple past and past participle sniftered)
* (intransitive) To sniff; also, to snivel or snuffle.
** 1611, Randle Cotgrave, compiler, “Brouffer”, in A Dictionarie of the French and English Tongues, London: […] Adam Islip, →OCLC, signature [M vj], verso, column 1:Brouffer. To ſnurt, or ſnifter vvith the noſe, like a horſe.
** 1611, Randle Cotgrave, compiler, “Nifler”, in A Dictionarie of the French and English Tongues, London: […] Adam Islip, →OCLC, signature Kkk, recto, column 1:Nifler. To ſnifter, or ſnuffe vp ſniuell; to dravv it vp by dravving in the vvind.
** 1835, James Hogg, “Some Remarkable Passages in the Life of an Edinburgh Baillie, Written by Himself”, in Tales of the Wars of Montrose. […], volume I, London: James Cochrane and Co. […], →OCLC, page 130:I confess when I heard this read out in a strong, mellow and affecting tone, I could not resist crying; the tears ran down my cheeks, and I was obliged to dight them with my sleeve, and snifter like a whipped boy.
* (transitive, archaic, rare) Followed by out: to speak (words) in a nasal, snuffling manner.

#### Derived terms

* snifterer
* sniftering (adjective)
* snufter

#### Translations
### Noun

snifter (plural snifters)
* (chiefly Northern England, Scotland) A sniff.
* (figurative)
** (chiefly Northern England, Scotland) A strong or severe wind.
** (originally and chiefly US) A small, wide, pear-shaped glass used for drinking aromatic liquors such as bourbon and brandy.
    Synonyms: brandy bowl, brandy glass, brandy snifter, cognac glass, whiskey glass
*** 2003 January 20, “Getting Saucy”, in Time‎, New York, N.Y.: Time Inc., →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2012-11-03:[H]e springs to another wooden vat and turns a valve, filling a snifter with a warm amber liquid. […] Bang holds the liquid up to the light, swirls it around, takes a sniff of the pungent bouquet, puts the glass to his lips—and gives a satisfied smile.
** (originally US, informal) Synonym of nip (“a small amount of an alcoholic beverage, especially one equivalent to what a snifter (sense 2.2) might hold”)
*** 1917 (date written), Edgar Rice Burroughs, “The Oakdale Affair”, in The Blue Book Magazine, Chicago, Ill.: Story-press Corp., published March 1918, →OCLC; republished Doylestown, Pa.: Wildside Press, 2003, →ISBN, page 21:"Sit down, bo," invited Soup Face. "I guess you're a regular all right. Here, have a snifter?" and he pulled a flask from his side pocket, holding it toward The Oskaloosa Kid.
*** 1923 June, P[elham] G[renville] Wodehouse, “The Début of Battling Billson”, in Ukridge, London: Herbert Jenkins […], published 3 June 1924, →OCLC, page 56:And now, old horse, you may lead me across the street to the Coal Hole for a short snifter.
** (US, slang) Synonym of cocaine addict; a sniffer.
** (US, slang) A small amount of cocaine taken by inhaling through the nose.
** (US, slang) A handheld device used to detect signals from radio transmitters; a sniffer.

#### Derived terms

* brandy snifter
* snifter valve
* snifters (plural only)

#### Translations
### References

* ↑ “snifteren, v.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
* ↑ Compare “snifter, v., n.”, in The Dictionary of the Scots Language, Edinburgh: Scottish Language Dictionaries, 2004–present, →OCLC, reproduced from W[illiam] Grant and D[avid] D. Murison, editors, The Scottish National Dictionary, Edinburgh: Scottish National Dictionary Association, 1931–1976, →OCLC.
* ↑ “snifter, v.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, July 2024.
* ↑ “-er-, suf.(3)”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
* ↑ “-en, suf.(3)”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
* ↑ “snifter, n.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, December 2023; “snifter, n.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.

### Further reading

* snifter on Wikipedia.Wikipedia