snipe

1 of 3

noun (1)

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 3

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

sniper

3 of 3

noun (2)

snip·​er

ˈsnīpə(r)

plural -s

1

: one that snipes: such as

a

: one that fires at exposed men of an enemy's force

b

: a worker who snipes logs for skidding

2

: a prospector or placer miner who works abandoned claims

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

Both teams struggled to find the cage for the initial seven minutes, before Luke Betty ended the scoring drought with a snipe to provide Weston an early 1-0 advantage. —Brendan Connelly, Boston Herald, 6 June 2026

Eichel got Vegas on the board with a snipe of a wrist shot that beat Wedgewood high. —Mark Lazerus, New York Times, 23 May 2026

Verb

Not everybody is delighted by it — there was sniping from rivals’ players this season, some of whom complained that refereeing decisions were helping Ronaldo and Al Nassr to grab that elusive SPL crown — but awareness of the league went stratospheric because of him. —Phil Hay, New York Times, 22 May 2026

Boys lacrosse Gunner Hanna sniped five goals to help propel Abington to an 18-1 nonleague win over Plymouth South. —Tyler McManus, Boston Herald, 19 May 2026

Word History

Etymology

Noun (1)

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

First Known Use

Noun (1)

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