Link Centre Dictionary

snivel

sni·vel

UK/ˈsnɪvəl/ uncommon
noun (2) verb (3)

noun

1.
2.

the act of breathing heavily through the nose (as when the nose is congested)

Synonyms

verb

1.

talk in a tearful manner

Synonyms
2.

snuff up mucus through the nose

Synonyms
3.

cry or whine with snuffling

  • “Stop snivelling--you got yourself into this mess!”
Synonyms

Origin

From Middle English snivelen, snevelen, snyvelen, snuvelen, from Old English *snyflan (attested in the verbal noun snyflung (“mucus”)), from Proto-West Germanic *snuflijan, related to Old English snofl (“mucus”), ultimately from the root of snout. Akin to sniff, snuff. Compare sniffle. Cognate with Middle Low German snuffelen, snüffelen (“to sniff, smell”), Danish snøvle (“to sniffle, snivel”), Norwegian Nynorsk snuvla (“to sniffle, snivel”), Swedish snövla (“to sniffle, snivel”). Compare typologically Russian сопе́ть (sopétʹ), сопля́ (sopljá) akinness.

Phrases

  • snivel rights

Related words

Word family

Broader terms

Related verbs

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.