snort
verbEtymology From Middle English snorten, from earlier fnorten, from Old English *fnorettan, related to Middle English snoren, fnoren, from Old English fnora. See snore and sneeze for more on the change from fn- to sn-.
1
To make a snort; to exhale roughly through the nose.
- She snorted with laughter.
- Disembarkation seemed a slow business. From the deck one watched a "Merchant Navy" Pacific drift lazily along the track beside the wall of the Marine Station, and little South Eastern tanks go snorting fussily about.1946 January and February, 'Talisman', “Bückeburg to Aberayron”, in Railway Magazine, page 41:
2
To express or force out by snorting.
- He snorted a derisory reply and turned on his heel.
3
To express contempt or disgust by (or as if by) a snorting sound.
- Back in 2018, the body representing the water industry was snorting at Gove’s aspersions, declaring hotly that it looked forward to its pet regulator “bringing some sorely needed facts and balance to the debate”.2023 June 30, Marina Hyde, “The tide is coming in fast on Rishi Sunak – and it’s full of sewage”, in The Guardian:
4
Slang To inhale (usually a drug) through the nose.
- to snort cocaine
5
Obsolete To snore.
- the snorting citizensc. 1603–1604 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Othello, the Moore of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene i]:
- Synonyms
- insufflate