snare

From Middle English snare, from Old English snearu, sneare (“a string; cord”), from Proto-Germanic *snarhǭ (“a sling; loop; noose”). Cognate with Old Norse snara. Also related to German Schnur and Dutch snaar, snoer.

• (General American) IPA^(key): /snɛəɹ/, /snɛɹ/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /snɛə/

• Audio (US)

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• Rhymes: -ɛə(ɹ)

snare (plural snares)

Bird caught in a snare

Drum fitted with snare wires

1. A trap (especially one made from a loop of wire, string, or leather).
   • 1943, Graham Greene, The Ministry of Fear, London: Heinemann, 1960, Book Three, Chapter One, pp. 196-197,

     He […] watched Beavis’s long-toothed mouth open and clap to like a rabbit snare.

   • 2013, Richard Flanagan, The Narrow Road to the Deep North, New York: Knopf, 2014, Chapter 18, p. 332,

     He felt a snare tightening around his throat; he gasped and threw a leg out of the bed, where it jerked for a second or two, thumping the steel frame, and died.

2. A mental or psychological trap.
   • 1591 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The First Part of Henry the Sixt”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act IV, scene ii]:

     If thou retire, the Dauphin, well appointed,
     Stands with the snares of war to tangle thee:

   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], OCLC 964384981, Exodus 23:33:

     […] if thou serve their gods, it will surely be a snare unto thee.

   • 1719 April 25​, [Daniel Defoe], The Life and Strange Surprizing Adventures of Robinson Crusoe, […], 3rd edition, London: […] W[illiam] Taylor […], published 1719, OCLC 838630407, page 193:

     […] and I had now liv’d two Years under these Uneasinesses, which indeed made my Life much less comfortable than it was before; as may well be imagin’d by any who know what it is to live in the constant Snare of the Fear of Man […]

   • 1864 August – 1866 January, [Elizabeth] Gaskell, Wives and Daughters. An Every-day Story. […], volume (please specify |volume=I or II), London: Smith, Elder and Co., […], published 1866, OCLC 83344188:

     “ […] riches are a great snare.”

   • 1978, Jan Morris, Farewell the Trumpets: An Imperial Retreat, New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Part One, Chapter 9, p. 173,

     They were devious war aims, and Allenby’s campaign was fought with a maximum of snare and subterfuge.

3. (veterinary) A loop of cord used in obstetric cases, to hold or to pull a fetus from the mother animal.
4. (surgery) A similar looped instrument formerly used to remove tumours etc.
5. (music) A set of stiff wires held under tension against the lower skin of a drum to create a rattling sound.
6. (music) A snare drum.

snare (third-person singular simple present snares, present participle snaring, simple past and past participle snared)

1. (transitive) To catch or hold, especially with a loop.
   • 1667, John Milton, “Book X”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], […], OCLC 228722708; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, OCLC 230729554:

     Lest that too heavenly form […] snare them.

   • c. 1596–1599, William Shakespeare, “The Second Part of Henry the Fourth, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act III, scene i]:

     The mournful crocodile / With sorrow snares relenting passengers.

2. (transitive, figurative) To ensnare.

• ensnare
• snare drum
• snare-picture
• snarl

• Naser, Nears, RNase, Saner, Serna, eRNAs, earns, ernas, nares, nears, reans, saner

From Old English sneare, snearu, from Proto-West Germanic *snarhā, from Proto-Germanic *snarhǭ.

• snaare, snarr, snarre

• IPA^(key): /ˈsnaːr(ə)/

snare (plural snares)

1. A trap for catching animals.
2. A noose or snare (rope loop)
3. (figuratively) A temptation or peril.

• snaren
• snarl

• English: snare
• Scots: snare

• “snāre, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

snare

1. Alternative form of snaren

From Old Norse snara.

snare f or m (definite singular snara or snaren, indefinite plural snarer, definite plural snarene)

1. a snare
2. a trap

   Synonym: felle

snare (present tense snarer, past tense snara or snaret, past participle snara or snaret)

1. (transitive) to catch in a snare

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

snare

1. inflection of snar:
   1. definite singular
   2. plural

• “snare” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

• Arnes, Ernas, anser, ranes, rasen, rensa, saner

From Old Norse snara (“a snare”), from Proto-Germanic *snarhǭ. Cognate with English snare.

• (noun): Snara, Snora, snara, snora, snoru (obsolete forms and spellings)
• (verb): snara (split and a-infinitives)

snare f (definite singular snara, indefinite plural snarer, definite plural snarene)

1. a snare
2. a trap

   Synonym: felle

• rennesnare

snare (present tense snarar, past tense snara, past participle snara, passive infinitive snarast, present participle snarande, imperative snare/snar)

1. (transitive) to catch in a snare
2. (transitive) to ensnare

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

snare

1. inflection of snar:
   1. definite singular
   2. plural

• “snare” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

• Arnes, Ernas, ensar, naser, rasen, saner

snare

1. absolute definite natural masculine singular of snar.

• Arnes, Enars, Ernas, anser, arens, enars, erans, rasen, reans, renas, rensa, resan