different between snort vs swear

English

Etymology

From Middle English snorten, from earlier fnorten, probably related to Middle English snoren, fnoren, from Old English fnora. See snore and sneeze for more on the change from fn- to sn-.

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /sn??t/
• Rhymes: -??(r)t

Noun

snort (plural snorts)

1. The sound made by exhaling or inhaling roughly through the nose.
2. (slang) A dose of a drug to be snorted. Here, "drug" includes snuff (i.e., pulverized tobacco).
3. (slang) A consumed portion of alcoholic drink.
   • 1951, Indiana Historical Society Publications (volumes 16-17, page 157)

     Everybody tipped up the jug and took a snort of whisky and followed it with a gourd of cool water. We thought a snort of whisky now and then braced us up some and put a little more lift in us.

   • 1978, George G. Gilman, Edge: Red River, Pinnacle Books (1978), ?ISBN, page 45:

     "It won't buy you any wine," Paxton told him.

     "I know that," the drunk replied in an insulted tone. "It's a pussy pass, ain't it?"

     Paxton grinned wearily. "How would you know that? You'd rather have a snort than a screw any day."

4. (nautical, Britain) A submarine snorkel.

Derived terms

Translations

Verb

snort (third-person singular simple present snorts, present participle snorting, simple past and past participle snorted)

1. (intransitive) To make a snort; to exhale roughly through the nose.

   She snorted with laughter.

2. (transitive) To express or force out by snorting.

   He snorted a derisory reply and turned on his heel.

3. (transitive, slang) To inhale (usually a drug) through the nose.

   to snort cocaine

4. (intransitive, obsolete) To snore.
5. (intransitive, nautical, of submarines) To sail at periscope depth through the use of a snort or snorkel.

Synonyms

• (inhale through the nose): insufflate

Derived terms

Translations

References

Anagrams

• ronts, trons

Dutch

Pronunciation

Verb

snort

1. second- and third-person singular present indicative of snorren
2. (archaic) plural imperative of snorren

English

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /sw??/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /sw??/
• Rhymes: -??(?)

Etymology 1

From Middle English sweren, swerien, from Old English swerian (“to swear, take an oath of office”), from Proto-West Germanic *swarjan, from Proto-Germanic *swarjan? (“to speak, swear”), from Proto-Indo-European *swer- (“to swear”).

Cognate with West Frisian swarre (“to swear”), Saterland Frisian swera (“to swear”), Dutch zweren (“to swear, vow”), Low German swören (“to swear”), sweren, German schwören (“to swear”), Danish sværge, Swedish svära (“to swear”), Icelandic sverja (“to swear”), Russian ????? (svara, “quarrel”). Also cognate to Albanian var (“to hang, consider, to depend from”) through Proto-Indo-European.

The original sense in all Germanic languages is “to take an oath”. The sense “to use bad language” developed in Middle English and is based on the Christian prohibition against swearing in general (cf. Matthew 5:33-37) and invoking God’s name in particular (i.e. frequent swearing was considered similar to the use of obscene words).

Verb

swear (third-person singular simple present swears, present participle swearing, simple past swore or (archaic) sware, past participle sworn or yswore)

1. (transitive, intransitive) To take an oath, to promise.

   • The Bat—they called him the Bat. […]. He'd never been in stir, the bulls had never mugged him, he didn't run with a mob, he played a lone hand, and fenced his stuff so that even the fence couldn't swear he knew his face.

2. (transitive, intransitive) To use offensive, profane, or obscene language.

Usage notes

• In sense 1, this is a catenative verb that takes the to infinitive. See Appendix:English catenative verbs

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:swear word
• See also Thesaurus:swear

Derived terms

Translations

Etymology 2

From the above verb, or from Middle English sware, from Old English swaru, from Proto-Germanic *swar?.

Noun

swear (plural swears)

1. A swear word.
   • 1892, Robert Louis Stevenson, The Beach of Falesá

     You might think it funny to hear this Kanaka girl come out with a big swear. No such thing. There was no swearing in her — no, nor anger; she was beyond anger, and meant the word simple and serious.

Etymology 3

From Middle English swere, swer, swar, from Old English sw?r, sw?r (“heavy, heavy as a burden, of great weight, oppressive, grievous, painful, unpleasant, sad, feeling or expressing grief, grave, slow, dull, sluggish, slothful, indolent, inactive from weakness, enfeebled, weak”), from Proto-West Germanic *sw?r, from Proto-Germanic *sw?raz (“heavy”), from Proto-Indo-European *swer- (“heavy”).

Cognate with West Frisian swier (“heavy”), Dutch zwaar (“heavy, hard, difficult”), German schwer (“heavy, hard, difficult”), Swedish svår (“heavy, hard, severe”), Latin s?rius (“earnest, grave, solemn, serious”) and Albanian varrë (“wound, plague”).

Alternative forms

• sweer, sweir, swere

Adjective

swear (comparative swearer or more swear, superlative swearest or most swear)

1. (Britain dialectal) Heavy.
2. (Britain dialectal) Top-heavy; too high.
3. (Britain dialectal) Dull; heavy; lazy; slow; reluctant; unwilling.
4. (Britain dialectal) Niggardly.
5. (Britain dialectal) A lazy time; a short rest during working hours (especially field labour); a siesta.

Derived terms

Verb

swear (third-person singular simple present swears, present participle swearing, simple past and past participle sweared)

1. (Britain dialectal) To be lazy; rest for a short while during working hours.

References

• swear at OneLook Dictionary Search

Anagrams

• resaw, sawer, sware, wares, wears