different between snirt vs snift

English

Etymology 1

Verb

snirt (third-person singular simple present snirts, present participle snirting, simple past and past participle snirted)

1. (Scotland) To give a suppressed laugh or sharp intake of breath.
   • 1833, Anonymous, writing in The Dublin University Magazine: A Literary and Political Journal, page 575, "Willie and Pate" :

     "He grins, and snirts, and thraws ye ken — / I maist could die, wi' laughin."

   • 1837, James Hogg, "Katie Cheyne" in Tales and Sketches, page 172:

     "But ye see there was a great deal of blushing and snirting, and bits of made coughs, as if to keep down a thorough guffau."

   • 1871, William Black, A daughter of Heth: A novel, page 160:

     The Whaup grew very red in the face, and 'snirted' with laughter."

Noun

snirt (plural snirts)

1. (Scotland) A suppressed laugh; a sharp intake of breath.

See also

• snirtle

Etymology 2

Blend of snow +? dirt

Noun

snirt (uncountable)

1. (Canada, US) Snow that is dirty, often seen by the side of roads and parking lots that have been plowed.
   • 1975, United States House Committee on Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture and Related Agencies, Agriculture and Related Agencies Appropriations for 1976, page 175 [1]:

     We then have what we call 'snirt' storms.

   • 1985, United States House Committee on Agriculture, General Farm Bill of 1985: Hearings Before the Committee on Agriculture, page 924 [2]:

     Snirt or a mixture of snow and dirt is the term popularly applied to the windrows of dirt along the roads during a Minnesota winter.

   • 1997, William S. Burroughs, Last Words, Grove Press, page 73, ?ISBN:

     'Snirt' is a thing of the spring.

   • 2004, Dean Norman, Studio Cards: Funny Greeting Cards and People Who Created Them, Trafford Publishing, ?ISBN, page 131:

     […] it wasn't a hard winter. Only a couple of blizzards and snirt and snuss storms.

Derived terms

• snirty

Anagrams

• NRTIs

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sn?ft/
• Rhymes: -?ft

Etymology 1

Noun

snift (countable and uncountable, plural snifts)

1. (Britain, dialect) A moment.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Halliwell to this entry?)

2. (Britain, dialect, uncountable) Slight snow; sleet.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Halliwell to this entry?)

Etymology 2

Imitative.

Verb

snift (third-person singular simple present snifts, present participle snifting, simple past and past participle snifted)

1. (now dialectal) To sniff; to snort or snuff.
   • 1792, Frances Burney, Journals and Letters, Penguin 2001, p. 349:

     [S]he, also, entered, and coming pretty close to my Father, snifted at her Flowers with a sort of extatic eagerness, and then let them fall.

   • resentment expressed by snifting

   • It now appears that they were still snifting narration of your lordship is for the greater part and hankering after their old

2. To snivel.

Anagrams

• nifts