snipe

1 of 2

noun

ˈsnīp 

plural snipes

1

or plural snipe : any of various usually slender-billed birds of the sandpiper family

especially : any of several game birds (especially genus Gallinago) especially of marshy areas

2

: a contemptible person

snipe

2 of 2

verb

sniped; sniping

intransitive verb

1

: to shoot at exposed individuals (as of an enemy's forces) from a usually concealed point of vantage

2

: to aim a carping or snide attack

sniper noun

Examples of snipe in a Sentence

Verb

Enemy fighters sniped at them from vacant buildings.

One of the senators sniped, “What does he think this is, a monarchy?”.

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

Cates set up Michkov for a first-period snipe that upped the Flyers’ lead to 2-1, and scored a short-handed goal late in the second period to pad the Flyers’ lead to 5-1 after two. —Kevin Kurz, New York Times, 12 Apr. 2026

Knies opened the scoring after Edmundson hand-delivered the puck to Max Domi, who zoomed ahead and floated a saucer pass to Knies for a snipe from between the circles. —Andrew Knoll, Daily News, 5 Apr. 2026

Verb

Ethan Fennel sniped five goals, propelling Acton-Boxboro to the Players Cup championship game with an 11-8 boys lacrosse victory over Xaverian. —Brian Roach, Boston Herald, 24 Apr. 2026

Everyone on-screen is a person of action, not words — particularly Taylor-Johnson’s major, a veteran of the War on Terror, who is so calm under pressure that he’s introduced sniping a bull’s-eye at Lord knows how many meters. —Amy Nicholson, Los Angeles Times, 23 Apr. 2026

Word History

Etymology

Noun

Middle English, probably of Scandinavian origin; akin to Old Norse snīpa snipe; akin to Old High German snepfa snipe

First Known Use

Noun

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Verb

1832, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for snipe

• gripe
• hype
• lipe
• pipe
• ripe
• sipe
• skype
• stipe
• stripe
• strype
• swipe
• tripe

Kids Definition

snipe

1 of 2 noun

ˈsnīp 

plural snipes or snipe

: any of several birds that have a long slender bill, live mostly in marshy areas, and are related to the sandpipers

snipe

2 of 2 verb

sniped; sniping

1

: to shoot at exposed individuals of an enemy's forces from a usually concealed point

2

: to attack with unfair or cutting remarks

sniper noun