from
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
Snipe \Snipe\, n. [OE. snipe; akin to D. snep, snip, LG. sneppe,
snippe, G. schnepfe, Icel. sn[imac]pa (in comp.), Dan.
sneppe, Sw. sn[aum]ppa a sanpiper, and possibly to E. snap.
See {Snap}, {Snaffle}.]
1. (Zool.) Any one of numerous species of limicoline game
birds of the family {Scolopacidae}, having a long,
slender, nearly straight beak.
[1913 Webster]
Note: The common, or whole, snipe ({Gallinago c[oe]lestis})
and the great, or double, snipe ({Gallinago major}),
are the most important European species. The Wilson's
snipe ({Gallinago delicata}) (sometimes erroneously
called {English snipe}) and the gray snipe, or
dowitcher ({Macrohamphus griseus}), are well-known
American species.
[1913 Webster]
2. A fool; a blockhead. [R.] --Shak.
[1913 Webster]
{Half snipe}, the dunlin; the jacksnipe.
{Jack snipe}. See {Jacksnipe}.
{Quail snipe}. See under {Quail}.
{Robin snipe}, the knot.
{Sea snipe}. See in the Vocabulary.
{Shore snipe}, any sandpiper.
{Snipe hawk}, the marsh harrier. [Prov. Eng.]
{Stone snipe}, the tattler.
{Summer snipe}, the dunlin; the green and the common European
sandpipers.
{Winter snipe}. See {Rock snipe}, under {Rock}.
{Woodcock snipe}, the great snipe.
[1913 Webster]