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): /snɛ(ə)ɹ/
• (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, published 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, chapter 18, in The Narrow Road to the Deep North, New York: Knopf, published 2014, page 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, [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, Exodus 23:33:

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

   • 1719 May 6 (Gregorian calendar), [Daniel Defoe], The Life and Strange Surprizing Adventures of Robinson Crusoe, […], London: […] W[illiam] Taylor […], →OCLC, 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. […], volumes (please specify |volume=I or II), London: Smith, Elder and Co., […], published 1866, →OCLC:

     “ […] 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 bottom head 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.
   • c. 1596–1599 (date written), 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, [Act III, scene i]:

     The mournful crocodile / With sorrow snares relenting passengers.

   • 1667, John Milton, “Book X”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC:

     Lest that too heavenly form […] snare them.

   • 2023 September 29, Adam Seth Litwin, “Want to Save Your Job From A.I.? Hollywood Screenwriters Just Showed You How.”, in The New York Times‎, →ISSN:

     Instead, it aimed for a more important assurance: that if A.I. raises writers’ productivity or the quality of their output, guild members should snare an equitable share of the performance gains. And the W.G.A. got it.

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.

• Snara, Snora, snara, snora, snoru (noun, obsolete forms and spellings)
• snara (verb, 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. definite natural masculine singular of snar

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