different between snipe vs whisp

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sna?p/
• Rhymes: -a?p

Etymology 1

From Middle English snipe, snype (a type of bird), from Old Norse snípa, as in mýrisnípa (“moor snipe”). Akin to Norwegian snipe.

The verb originated in the 1770s among soldiers in British India where a hunter skilled enough to kill the elusive snipe was dubbed a "sniper". The term sniper was first attested in 1824 in the sense of the word "sharpshooter".

Noun

snipe (plural snipes or snipe) (Plural "snipe" is used only for the bird.)

1. Any of various limicoline game birds of the genera Gallinago, Lymnocryptes and Coenocorypha in the family Scolopacidae, having a long, slender, nearly straight beak.
2. A fool; a blockhead.
3. A shot fired from a concealed place.
4. (naval slang) A member of the engineering department on a ship.
5. (ice hockey slang) A goal.

Derived terms

Translations

Verb

snipe (third-person singular simple present snipes, present participle sniping, simple past and past participle sniped)

1. (intransitive) To hunt snipe.
2. (intransitive) To shoot at individuals from a concealed place.
3. (intransitive, by extension) To shoot with a sniper rifle.
4. (transitive) To watch a timed online auction and place a winning bid against (the current high bidder) at the last possible moment.
   • 2003, "Weird Al" Yankovic, eBay (song)

     I am the type who is liable to snipe you
     With two seconds left to go, whoa.
5. (transitive) To nose (a log) to make it drag or slip easily in skidding.
6. (ice hockey slang) To score a goal.
7. To move the ball quickly in a different direction.

Derived terms

• sniper

Translations

See also

• snipe hunt

Etymology 2

Probably from snip or a cognate

Noun

snipe (plural snipes)

1. (slang) A cigarette butt.
2. An animated promotional logo during a television show.
3. A strip of copy announcing some late breaking news or item of interest, typically placed in a print advertisement in such a way that it stands out from the ad.
4. A bottle of wine measuring 0.1875 liters, one fourth the volume of a standard bottle; a quarter bottle or piccolo.

Translations

Etymology 3

Either from sneap or a figurative development from Etymology 1

Noun

snipe (plural snipes)

1. A sharp, clever answer; sarcasm.
2. A note or sticker attached to an existing poster to provide further information (e.g. an event is sold out), political criticism, etc.
   • 1983, Joseph V. Melillo, Market the Arts!

     [R]egular campaign posters are easily adapted to the student market by sniping them. […] The student snipe should say something like, "FOR STUDENTS ONLY: 5 EVENTS FOR AS LITTLE AS $20.00!"

Verb

snipe (third-person singular simple present snipes, present participle sniping, simple past and past participle sniped)

1. (intransitive) To make malicious, underhand remarks or attacks.
   • 2013 May 23, Sarah Lyall, "British Leader’s Liberal Turn Sets Off a Rebellion in His Party," New York Times (retrieved 29 May 2013):

     Capitalizing on the restive mood, Mr. Farage, the U.K. Independence Party leader, took out an advertisement in The Daily Telegraph this week inviting unhappy Tories to defect. In it Mr. Farage sniped that the Cameron government — made up disproportionately of career politicians who graduated from Eton and Oxbridge — was “run by a bunch of college kids, none of whom have ever had a proper job in their lives.”

2. (transitive) To attach a note or sticker to (an existing poster) to provide further information, political criticism, etc.
   • 1983, Joseph V. Melillo, Market the Arts!

     Campus newspaper advertising rates are inexpensive, flyers can be simple because the ticket-price message is strong, and regular campaign posters are easily adapted to the student market by sniping them.

   • 2018, Avram Finkelstein, After Silence: A History of AIDS Through Its Images (page 42)

     At the time, a poster cost more to snipe than to print. The company quoted us $1.50 per poster, and made such a point of guaranteeing coverage, I decided to covertly follow one of their crews around one night to see for myself.

Further reading

• snipe in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.

References

Anagrams

• Espin, Pines, epsin, penis, pines, spine

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology

From Old Norse mýrisnípa. Akin to English snipe.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /²sni?p?/

Noun

snipe f (definite singular snipa, indefinite plural sniper, definite plural snipene)

1. any of various birds of the family Scolopacidae, the snipes and sandpipers

References

• “snipe” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Anagrams

• penis, pines, pinse, pisne, sneip, snipe

English

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -?sp

Etymology 1

Noun

whisp (plural whisps)

1. A flock of snipe.

Etymology 2

Noun

whisp (plural whisps)

1. Alternative form of wisp

Anagrams

• whips