| 释义 |
snipe
I. \ˈsnīp\ noun
(plural snipes also snipe)
Etymology: Middle English, of Scandinavian origin; akin to Old Norse snīpa snipe; akin to Middle Dutch snippe snipe, Old High German snepfa, and probably to Old High German snabul beak — more at neb
1.
a. : any of several game birds (genus Capella) that are widely distributed in the New and Old Worlds especially in marshy areas, resemble but are slenderer than the related woodcocks and like these have very long slender bills with which they probe in mud after worms and other food, and are usually variegated above with blackish brown, buff, and chestnut and barred on the tail and sides — see great snipe, jacksnipe, whole snipe, wilson's snipe
b. : any of various usually slender-billed birds (as a dowitcher or some of the sandpipers and tattlers) of the suborder Charadrii and especially of the families Charadriidae or Scolopacidae — usually used with a qualifying term
< the red-breasted snipe >
2.
a. : a contemptible person
b. slang : a railway section hand
c. slang : an enlisted man in the engineering division of a naval vessel
3. slang : a butt of a smoked cigar or cigarette
4. : an outdoor advertising poster
5. : an act of sniping
6. usually capitalized : a racing sailboat approximatley 15 1/2 feet long and Marconi sloop rigged
II. verb
(-ed/-ing/-s)
intransitive verb
1. : to shoot or hunt snipe
2.
a. : to shoot at exposed individuals of an enemy's forces especially when not in action from a usually concealed and removed point of vantage
< a rifleman missed in mopping up the ridge sniped at anyone moving about the camp in an officer's uniform >
b. : to aim a carping or snide attack (as at a competitor) : take damagingly critical or sly swipes
< other parties of all political shadings have been sniping at his regime — Robert Trumbull >
3. : to post an advertising bill on an available surface (as a post, tree, wall) without permission
transitive verb
1. : to shoot at from a usually concealed and removed point of vantage
< snipe the enemy column from the treetops >
2. : to round the end of (a log) for easy skidding |