snarl

• Rhymes: -ɑː(r)l

Late 14^thc. From Middle English snarlen, frequentative of snaren (“to trap, tangle”). Equivalent to snare +‎ -le.

snarl (third-person singular simple present snarls, present participle snarling, simple past and past participle snarled)

1. (transitive) To entangle; to complicate; to involve in knots.

   to snarl a skein of thread

   • Edmund Spenser

     And from her back her garments she did tear, / And from her head oft rent her snarled hair […]

2. (intransitive) To become entangled.
3. (transitive) To place in an embarrassing situation; to ensnare; to make overly complicated.
   • Latimer

     [the] question that they would have snarled him with

4. (transitive, intransitive) To be congested in traffic, or to make traffic congested.
5. To form raised work upon the outer surface of (thin metal ware) by the repercussion of a snarling iron upon the inner surface.

• ensnarl
• unsnarl

snarl (plural snarls)

1. A knot or complication of hair, thread, or the like, difficult to disentangle.

   Synonym: entanglement

2. An intricate complication; a problematic difficulty; a knotty or tangled situation.
3. A slow-moving traffic jam.

• (entangled situation): imbroglio

Late 16^thc. Frequentative of earlier snar (“to growl”), perhaps from Middle Low German snorren (“to drone”), of probably imitative origin. Related to German schnarren (“to rattle”) and schnurren (“to hum, buzz”).

snarl (third-person singular simple present snarls, present participle snarling, simple past and past participle snarled)

1. (intransitive) To growl angrily by gnashing or baring the teeth; to gnarl; to utter grumbling sounds.
2. (transitive) To complain angrily; to utter growlingly.
3. (intransitive) To speak crossly; to talk in rude, surly terms.
   • Dryden

     It is malicious and unmanly to snarl at the little lapses of a pen, from which Virgil himself stands not exempted.

• snarling
• snarlingly

snarl (plural snarls)

A sphynx snarls at a dog.

1. The act of snarling; a growl; a surly or peevish expression; an angry contention.
2. A growl, for example that of an angry or surly dog, or similar; grumbling sounds.
3. A squabble.

• snarl word

• snarl in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• snarl in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• snarl at OneLook Dictionary Search
• “snarl” in Douglas Harper, Online Etymology Dictionary, 2001–2019.
• “snarl” in Merriam–Webster Online Dictionary.

• larns

Back-formation from snarla.

• IPA^(key): /s(t)nartl/
• Rhymes: -artl

snarl n (genitive singular snarls, no plural)

1. snack (light meal)

• snakk