different between porpoise vs snuffer

English

Etymology

From Middle English porpeys, purpeys, borrowed from Anglo-Norman porpeis, purpeis, Old French pourpois, porpois, pourpais, porpeis (“porpoise”), from Vulgar Latin *porcopiscis (“porpoise”, literally “pig-fish”), from Latin porcus (“pig”) + piscis (“fish”). Compare (in transposed order) obsolete Italian pesce porco and Portuguese peixe porco; also Latin porcus marinus (“sea hog”), akin in formation to German Meerschwein, English mereswine. More at mereswine.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /?p??p?s/, /p???p??s/
• (US) IPA^(key): /?p???p?s/
• Rhymes: -??(?)p?s, -??s

Noun

porpoise (plural porpoises)

1. A small cetacean of the family Phocoenidae, related to dolphins and whales.

   Synonyms: garfish, mereswine, sea hog, sea pig, seaswine

2. (Canada, US, imprecisely) Any small dolphin.

Translations

Verb

porpoise (third-person singular simple present porpoises, present participle porpoising, simple past and past participle porpoised)

1. (intransitive) Said of an air-breathing aquatic animal such as a porpoise or penguin: To repeatedly jump out of the water to take a breath and dive back in a continuous motion.
2. (intransitive) Said of an aircraft: to make a series of plunges when taking off or landing; or of a watercraft: to successively plunge up and down in the water.

See also

• dolphin
• killer whale
• pod
• sea lion
• seal
• whale
• Appendix:English collective nouns

English

Etymology

snuff +? -er

Noun

snuffer (plural snuffers)

1. A device made to extinguish (snuff out) a candle.
   • 1731, Jonathan Swift, Directions to Servants

     If the burning snuff happens to get out of the snuffers, you have a chance that it may fall into a dish of soup.

2. A person who uses snuff (the tobacco product).
3. The common porpoise.
4. The participant in a snuff film who kills another (the snuffee).

Synonyms

• (device to extinguish candle): candle snuffer

Translations

Anagrams

• Suffern