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snuff

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snuff¹

  • /snʌf/ US, UK
  • /snɐf/ Australia, New Zealand
  • /snʊf/ Northern England

Rhymes with -ʌf

Where it comes from

Late Middle English, from Middle Dutch snuffen (“to snuff, sniff, snuffle”).

Related to Dutch snuiven (“to sniff”), Middle Low German snûve (“pose, head-cold”), German Schnupfen (“head-cold”). The noun is probably from Dutch snuf (“snuff”), an abbreviation of snuftabak, snuiftabak (“snuff”). Related to sniff (compare Dutch snuffen (“snuff”), German schnupf (“snuff”), French schnouff (“junk”)).

noun snuffs

  1. countable, uncountable Finely ground or pulverized tobacco (or other plant derivative) intended for use by being sniffed or snorted into the nose. The native of some South American tribes use this drug as an aphrodisiac in the form of a snuff called cohoba.
  2. countable, uncountable Fine-ground or minced tobacco, dry or moistened, intended for use by placing a pinch behind the lip or beneath the tongue. Dry snuffs are often adulterated with quicklime, and moist snuffs, as rappee, with ammonia, hellebore, pearl-ash, etc.

    Similar: chewing tobacco, dip

  3. countable, uncountable A snort or sniff of fine-ground, powdered, or pulverized tobacco.
  4. countable, uncountable The act of briskly inhaling by the nose; a sniff, a snort.
  5. countable, uncountable Resentment or skepticism expressed by quickly drawing air through the nose; snuffling; sniffling.
  6. countable, obsolete, uncountable Snot, mucus.
  7. countable, obsolete, uncountable Smell, scent, odour.

verb snuffs · snuffing · snuffed

  1. transitive To inhale through the nose. He snuffs the wind, his heels the sand excite.
  2. intransitive To turn up the nose and inhale air, as an expression of contempt; hence, to take offense. January 29, 1625, Joseph Hall, Public thanksgiving for the wonderful mitigation of the late morality Do the enemies of the church rage and snuff?
  3. Ireland, UK, obsolete, slang, transitive To drug (a person) with a mixture of snuff and beer.

snuff²

  • /snʌf/ US, UK
  • /snɐf/ Australia, New Zealand
  • /snʊf/ Northern England

Rhymes with -ʌf

Where it comes from

From Middle English snoffe, snuffe, of uncertain origin. Compare Middle Dutch snuf, snof (“snuff”), Dutch sneuvelen (“to die in battle”).

noun snuffs

  1. countable, uncountable The burning part of a candle wick, or the black, burnt remains of a wick (which must be periodically removed). his memory stinks like the snuff of a candle when it is put out […]
  2. countable, obsolete, uncountable Leavings in a glass after drinking; heeltaps.
  3. countable, slang, uncountable A murder. The cops are chasing their own asses on the St Christopher case, so how about a “Are You St Christopher's Next Slaying?” piece? Profiles of all the snuffs to date and reconstructions of the victims' last minutes.
  4. attributive, countable, slang, uncountable A video showing a real, non-acted murder.
  5. countable, informal, uncountable Erotica focusing on a character's murder. If you like snuff stories, Mr. Witomski's computer will send you information about the Gladiator newsletter. And if you happen to prefer killing sexual partners of the opposite sex — no problem, the computer will alter the pronouns.

snuff³

  • /snʌf/ US, UK
  • /snɐf/ Australia, New Zealand
  • /snʊf/ Northern England

Rhymes with -ʌf

Where it comes from

From Middle English snuffen, snoffen, from the noun (see Etymology 2 above).

verb snuffs · snuffing · snuffed

  1. To extinguish a candle or oil-lamp flame by covering the burning end of the wick until the flame is suffocated.
  2. obsolete To trim the burnt part of a candle wick. The dimness of the light her candle emitted made her turn to it in alarm; but there was no danger of its sudden extinction, it had yet some hours to burn; and that she might not have any greater difficulty in distinguishing the writing than what its ancient date might occasion, she hastily snuffed i
  3. slang To snuff out; to extinguish; to put out; to kill. Too much of a coward to snuff myself Guess I'll just have to suffer myself

Thesaurus

Closest in meaning: sniff, snuffle, colored, chromatic, chukker-brown, mummy-brown, snuff-brown, snus, tobacco, douse, string, kill, mulls, snuff box, snuffbox, snuff-box

Translations

Every language

noun fine-ground tobacco

Españolrapé
日本語かぎタバコ kagi-tabako, スナッフ sunaffu, 嗅ぎタバコ kagitabako
中文鼻煙 /鼻烟 bíyān
Portuguêsrapé
Françaistabac à priser, snuff
DeutschSchnupftabak
Italianotabacco da fiuto
Русскийню́хательный таба́к njúxatelʹnyj tabák, снафф snaff
العربيةنَشُوق našūq

verb extinguish candle or oil-lamp

Españolapagar, despabilar
Françaiséteindre, moucher
Italianosmoccolare

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Cite this
MLA

"snuff." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/snuff. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

snuff. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/snuff

Chicago

"snuff." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/snuff.

BibTeX
@misc{snuff_2026,
  title = {snuff},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/snuff},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}