snaffle (snafl)

[Appar. snabel, snavel, the nose or snout of a beast or a fish (OFries. (OFries.sna snavel, mouth); dim. of MD. snab be, snebbe, MLG. snab be, the bill or neb of a bird: see neb.] A bridle consisting of a slender bit mouth with a single rein and without a curb; a snaffle-bit. Your Monkish prohibitions, and expurgator i ous indexes, your gags and snaffles. Milton, On Def. of Humb. Remonst. snaffle (snaf'l), v.; pret. and pp. snaffled , ppr. snaffling . [ trans . 1. To bridle; hold or manage with a bridle. For hitherto slie writers wilie wits, Which haue engro ed princes chiefe affaires, Haue been like horses snaffled with the bits Of fancie, feare, or doubts. Mir. for Mags . , p. 395. 2. To clutch or seize by the snaffle. - Snaffling lay, the “lay" or special occupation of a thief who stops horsemen by clutching the horse's snaffle. I thought by your look you had been a clever fellow, and upon the snafling lay at least; but I find you are some sneaking budge rascal. Fielding , Amelia, L. 3. II. in trans. To speak through the nose. Halli well . [Prov. Eng.] snaffle-bit (snaf'l-bit), n. A plain slender jointed bit for a horse. Snaffle-bit. Gas coigne, Philomene (Steele Glas, etc., ed. Arber), p. 90. IMG:content-1384.png:[blocks in formation] Snag is no new word, though perhaps the Western application of it is so; but I find in Gill the proverb "A bird in the bag is worth two on the snag ." Lowell , Biglow Papers, 2d ser., Int. 3. A tree, or part of a tree, lying in the water with its branches at or near the surface, so as to be dangerous to navigation. Unfortunately for the navigation of the Mi i ippi, some of the largest [trees], after being cast down from the position in which they grew, get their roots entangled with the bottom of the river. These fixtures, called snags or planters, are extremely dangerous to the steam ve els proceeding up the stream. Capt . B. Hall , Travels in North America, II. 302. Hence-4. A hidden danger or obstacle; an unsuspected source or occasion of error or mistake; a stumbling-block.-5. A snag-tooth. In China none hold Women sweet Except their Snaggs are black as Jett. Prior , Alma, ii. 6. The fang or root of a tooth.-7. A branch or tine on the antler of a deer; a point. See cut under antler. The antler... often... sends off one or more branches called "tynes" or "snags." W. H. Flower , Encyc. Brit., XV. 431. 8. pl. The fruit of the snag-bush.