snipe

snipe
    n 1: Old or New World straight-billed game bird of the sandpiper
         family; of marshy areas; similar to the woodcocks
    2: a gunshot from a concealed location
    v 1: hunt or shoot snipe
    2: aim and shoot with great precision [syn: {sharpshoot},
       {snipe}]
    3: attack in speech or writing; "The editors of the left-leaning
       paper attacked the new House Speaker" [syn: {attack},
       {round}, {assail}, {lash out}, {snipe}, {assault}]
    

Snipe \Snipe\, v. t.
   1. To shoot at (detached men of an enemy's force) at long
      range, esp. when not in action.
      [Webster 1913 Suppl.]

   2. To nose (a log) to make it drag or slip easily in
      skidding.
      [Webster 1913 Suppl.]
    

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]
    

Snipe \Snipe\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. {Sniped}; p. pr. & vb. n.
   {Sniping}.]
   1. To shoot or hunt snipe.
      [Webster 1913 Suppl.]

   2. To shoot at detached men of an enemy's forces at long
      range, esp. when not in action; -- often with at.
      [Webster 1913 Suppl.]

   {snipe at}, to aim petty or snide criticisms at (a person) in
      his absence.
      [PJC]
    

Willet \Wil"let\, n. (Zool.)
   A large North American snipe ({Symphemia semipalmata}); --
   called also {pill-willet}, {will-willet}, {semipalmated
   tattler}, or {snipe}, {duck snipe}, and {stone curlew}.
   [1913 Webster]

   {Carolina willet}, the Hudsonian godwit.
      [1913 Webster]
    

62 Moby Thesaurus words for "snipe":
      aim at, attack, barrage, blast, blitz, bombard, cannon, cannonade,
      carp at, charge, cock, commence firing, criticize, deride,
      detonate, discharge, drop, eject, enfilade, fell, fire,
      fire a volley, fire at, fire off, fire upon, fusillade, gun,
      gun for, hit, knock, let fly, let off, load, mortar, open fire,
      open up on, pan, pelt, pepper, pick off, pistol, plug, pop at, pot,
      potshoot, potshot, prime, rake, rap, riddle, shell, shoot,
      shoot at, shoot down, slam, snipe at, strafe, strike,
      take a potshot, take aim at, torpedo, zero in on