snuff

English

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”)).

snuff (countable and uncountable, plural snuffs)

Finely ground or pulverized tobacco intended for use by being sniffed or snorted into the nose.
Fine-ground or minced tobacco, dry or moistened, intended for use by placing a pinch behind the lip or beneath the tongue; see also snus.
- 1896, Universal Dictionary of the English Language:
  Dry snuffs are often adulterated with quicklime, and moist snuffs, as rappee, with ammonia, hellebore, pearl-ash, etc.
- 1937, Zora Neale Hurston, chapter 5, in Their Eyes Were Watching God‎, University of Illinois Press, published 1978, page 76:
  […] most of the women dipped snuff and of course had a spit-cup in the house.
A snort or sniff of fine-ground, powdered, or pulverized tobacco.
The act of briskly inhaling by the nose; a sniff, a snort.
Resentment or skepticism expressed by quickly drawing air through the nose; snuffling; sniffling.
(obsolete) Snot, mucus.
(obsolete) Smell, scent, odour.

fine-ground tobacco

snuff (third-person singular simple present snuffs, present participle snuffing, simple past and past participle snuffed)

To inhale through the nose.
- 1697, Virgil, “Georgics”, in John Dryden, transl., The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC:
  He snuffs the wind, his heels the sand excite.
- 1796, Gottfried Augustus Bürger, “The Chase”, in [Walter Scott], transl., The Chase, and William and Helen: Two Ballads, from the German […], Edinburgh: […] Mundell and Son, […], for Manners and Miller, […]; and sold by T[homas] Cadell, Jun. and W[illiam] Davies (successors to Mr. [Thomas] Cadell) […], →OCLC, stanza I, page 1:
  Earl Walter winds his bugle horn; / To horſe, to horſe, halloo, halloo! / His fiery courſer ſnuffs the morn, / And thronging ſerfs their Lord purſue.
- 1945 August 17, George Orwell [pseudonym; Eric Arthur Blair], chapter 6, in Animal Farm […], London: Secker & Warburg, →OCLC:
  Napoleon paced to and fro in silence, occasionally snuffing at the ground.
To turn up the nose and inhale air, as an expression of contempt; hence, to take offence.
- January 29, 1625, Joseph Hall, Public thanksgiving for the wonderful mitigation of the late morality
  Do the enemies of the church rage and snuff?
(transitive, UK, Ireland, slang, obsolete) To drug (a person) with a mixture of snuff and beer.

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

snuff (countable and uncountable, plural snuffs)

The burning part of a candle wick, or the black, burnt remains of a wick (which must be periodically removed).
- 1624, Democritus Junior [pseudonym; Robert Burton], The Anatomy of Melancholy: […], 2nd edition, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Printed by John Lichfield and James Short, for Henry Cripps, →OCLC, partition II, section 3, member 3:
  his memory stinks like the snuff of a candle when it is put out […]
- 1731 (date written, published 1745), Jonathan Swift, “Directions to Servants”, in Thomas Sheridan and John Nichols, editors, The Works of the Rev. Jonathan Swift, […], new edition, volume XVI, London: […] J[oseph] Johnson, […], published 1801, →OCLC:
  If the burning snuff happens to get out of the snuffers, you have a chance that it may fall into a dish of soup.
(obsolete) Leavings in a glass after drinking; heeltaps.
(slang) A murder.
- 2004, David Mitchell, Cloud Atlas, London: Hodder and Stoughton, →ISBN:
  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.
(attributive, slang) A film or video clip which involves a real non-acted murder.

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

snuff (third-person singular simple present snuffs, present participle snuffing, simple past and past participle snuffed)

To extinguish a candle or oil-lamp flame by covering the burning end of the wick until the flame is suffocated.
(obsolete) To trim the burnt part of a candle wick.
- 1803 (date written), [Jane Austen], Northanger Abbey; published in Northanger Abbey: And Persuasion. […], volumes (please specify |volume=I or II), London: John Murray, […], 20 December 1817 (indicated as 1818), →OCLC:
  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 it. Alas! it was snuffed and extinguished in one.
(slang) To snuff out; to extinguish; to put out; to kill.
- 1985, J. G. Thirlwell (lyrics and music), “Enter the Exterminator”, in Nail, performed by Scraping Foetus off the Wheel:
  Too much of a coward to snuff myself
  Guess I'll just have to suffer myself
- 2021 November 18, Coconuts Bangkok, “Thai constitution does not permit same-sex marriage, court rules”, in Coconuts Bangkok‎, Bangkok: Coconuts, retrieved 2021-11-18:
  A court yesterday rejected a challenge to the constitutionality of prohibiting same-sex marriage, snuffing hopes for marriage equality proponents to shortcut stalled legislative efforts.

extinguish candle or oil-lamp

snuff m (plural snuffs)

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