sneaker
nounUS /ˈsnikɚ/
Etymology From sneak + -er. The shoes sense is a reference to the quietness of the shoes.
1
One who sneaks.
- Beshrew the man who on such a day as this, the general festival, should affect to stand aloof. I am none of those sneakers. I am free of the corporation, and care not who knows it.1823, Elia [pseudonym; Charles Lamb], Elia. Essays which have Appeared under that Signature in The London Magazine, London: […] [Thomas Davison] for Taylor and Hessey, […], →OCLC:
2
Atlantic Canada, Australia, Florida, New Zealand, Northeastern, US An athletic shoe with a soft, rubber sole. A trainer.
- He was wearing a stained white singlet that revealed tufts of black hair under his arms, and slept-in white canvas trousers and rubber-soled sneakers.1954, Ian Fleming, “Death of a Pelican”, in Live and Let Die, London: Pan Books, published 1957, page 138:
- Spectator I have just left the right worshipful and his myrmidons about a sneaker of five gallons!
5
Biology, Natural sciences A sneaker male.
- These sneakers may go on this way indefinitely, or, if one of the big males somehow dies or disappears, a sneaker male's hormones will trigger a huge growth spurt and he'll metamorphose into an alpha male.2008, Faye Flam, The Score: The Science of the Male Sex Drive:
- Synonyms
- kicks, tennis shoe, trainer, runner, takkie, rubber shoe, running shoe
- Derived terms
- sneakered, sneakerhead, sneakerization, sneakerless, sneakerlike, sneakernet, sneakerprint, sneaker sock, sneaker wave, sneakery
- Hypernyms
- sports shoe