Word.ws English Dictionary

snape

/sneɪp/

snape verb: to bevel the end of a timber to fit against an inclined surface.

Verb (1)

snape (third-person singular simple present snapes, present participle snaping, simple past and past participle snaped)

  1. To bevel the end of a timber to fit against an inclined surface.
    • It had to be accurately cut and trimmed, and its upper edge scored to suit the snaping of every beam end.2000, William L. Crothers, The American-built Clipper Ship, 1850-1856, International Marine, page 265

Verb (2)

snape (third-person singular simple present snapes, present participle snaping, simple past and past participle snaped)

  1. (UK, archaic, dialectal, transitive) To check or curtail (the growth of something); also, to check or curtail the growth of (a plant, etc.).
  2. (UK, archaic, dialectal, transitive) Synonym of sneap (“to check or abruptly reprove (someone); to chide, to rebuke, to reprimand”).
    • The colnel (sic) I dont think like him much. I undirstand (sic) he was always snaping him.1861, Terry A. Johnston, Him on One Side and Me on the Other, Univ. of South Carolina Press, p48, 1999 (quoting Alexander Campbell)
    Synonyms:
    sneap
  3. (UK, archaic, dialectal, intransitive) To chide, to rebuke, to reprimand.
    • He saw nothing, heard nothing, rushed on, he knew not whither, snaping, and uttering hoarse cries.1871, John Esten Cooke, Out of the Foam
    • I imagine her prodding my flab and snaping, "There's nothing there — get rid of that!"2001, Joan Raphael-Leff, Pregnancy: The Inside Story, Karnac Books, page 22

Proper noun capitalized: Snape

Snape

  1. A village in Snape with Thorp parish, North Yorkshire, England, previously in Hambleton district (OS grid ref SE2684).
  2. A village and civil parish in East Suffolk district, Suffolk, England, previously in Suffolk Coastal district (OS grid ref TM3958).
  3. A surname from Old English.

Synonyms of snape

Forms of snape

third-person singular presentsnapes
present participlesnaping
past participlesnaped
pastsnaped

Origin of snape

Origin obscure. Perhaps from snape, a dialectal variant of sneap (“to nip, bite, pinch”). More at sneap.

From Middle English snaipen (“to injure; of sleet or snow: to nip; to criticize, rebuke, revile”) [and other forms], from Old Norse sneypa (“to disgrace, dishonour; to outrage”), from Proto-Germanic *snupaną, *snubaną (“to cut; to snap”); further origin unknown. Doublet of sneap.

First attested in the late 18th century. Derived from various villages in England and southern Scotland sharing this name.

Words formed from snape

Phrases with snape

Words that rhyme with snape

21 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about snape

What does snape mean?
Snape means to bevel the end of a timber to fit against an inclined surface.
What part of speech is snape?
Snape can be a verb or a proper noun.
How do you pronounce snape?
Snape is pronounced /sneɪp/ (UK).
What is the past tense of snape?
The past tense of snape is snaped.

Words near snape in the dictionary

  1. Snapchatting
  2. snapdragon
  3. snapdragon double
  4. snapdragon doubles
  5. snapdragons
  6. snape
  7. Snape with Thorp
  8. snaped
  9. Snapefic
  10. Snapefics
  11. Snapeism

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: snape (page history and authors); Snape (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-snape.wav.

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