Library / English Dictionary

SNORT

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

A cry or noise made to express displeasure or contempt

Synonyms:

bird; boo; Bronx cheer; hiss; hoot; raspberry; razz; razzing; snort

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Hypernyms ("snort" is a kind of...):

call; cry; outcry; shout; vociferation; yell (a loud utterance; often in protest or opposition)

Derivation:

snort (indicate contempt by breathing noisily and forcefully through the nose)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A disrespectful laugh

Synonyms:

snicker; snigger; snort

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Hypernyms ("snort" is a kind of...):

laugh; laughter (the sound of laughing)

Derivation:

snort (indicate contempt by breathing noisily and forcefully through the nose)

snorty ((British informal) ill-tempered or annoyed)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Make a snorting sound by exhaling hard

Example:

The critic snorted contemptuously

Classified under:

Verbs of grooming, dressing and bodily care

Hypernyms (to "snort" is one way to...):

breathe out; exhale; expire (expel air)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s

Derivation:

snorter (someone who expresses contempt or indignation by uttering a snorting sound)

snorting (an act of forcible exhalation)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Indicate contempt by breathing noisily and forcefully through the nose

Example:

she snorted her disapproval of the proposed bridegroom

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Hypernyms (to "snort" is one way to...):

emit; let loose; let out; utter (express audibly; utter sounds (not necessarily words))

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s

Derivation:

snort (a cry or noise made to express displeasure or contempt)

snort (a disrespectful laugh)

snorter (someone who expresses contempt or indignation by uttering a snorting sound)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Inhale through the nose

Synonyms:

snort; take a hit

Classified under:

Verbs of eating and drinking

Hypernyms (to "snort" is one way to...):

do drugs; drug (use recreational drugs)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Sense 4

Meaning:

Inhale recreational drugs

Example:

the kids were huffing glue

Synonyms:

huff; snort

Classified under:

Verbs of eating and drinking

Hypernyms (to "snort" is one way to...):

breathe in; inhale; inspire (draw in (air))

"Snort" entails doing...:

do drugs; drug (use recreational drugs)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Credits

 Context examples: 

One Eye sprang back with a snort of sudden fright, then shrank down to the snow and crouched, snarling threats at this thing of fear he did not understand.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

Whilst he was speaking the horses began to neigh and snort and plunge wildly, so that the driver had to hold them up.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

The difficulties under which they had laboured all night, and which had found utterance in the most terrific gasps and snorts, are not to be conceived.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

Holmes snorted his contempt.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

I remember his breath hanging like smoke in his wake as he strode off, and the last sound I heard of him as he turned the big rock was a loud snort of indignation, as though his mind was still running upon Dr. Livesey.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

Then the wild man went back into the forest, and it was not long before a stable-boy came out of it, who led a horse that snorted with its nostrils, and could hardly be restrained, and behind them followed a great troop of warriors entirely equipped in iron, and their swords flashed in the sun.

(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)

But Wolf Larsen had turned away with a snort of disgust, leaving the sailor rubbing his eyes with surprise at having been let of so easily.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

The Professor snorted like an angry buffalo.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

On investigating this sound he identified it as the final snort of Bernard Higginbotham, which somehow had not penetrated to his brain before.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

The bull snorted and leaped away, his hoofs rattling and clattering as he fled across the ledges.

(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)