snitch

C2+ Topic:Actions & Processes

US /snɪtʃ/ UK /snɪtʃ/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

verb
to inform on someone; an informer

Nobody trusted him after he tried to snitch on his friends.

Verb forms

Verb forms are not available for this word yet.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 verb · to inform on someone; an... inform tattle squeal grass rat betray tell fink

Opposites

shield protect cover

Word family

Derived forms snitcher

Etymology

Of uncertain origin; originally 18th-century slang for 'the nose', later 'an informer' and 'to inform'. The semantic link may be through 'nose' as one who pries, but the connection is not firmly established.

Topics

Actions & Processes

External links

# snitch

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** verb
**IPA (US):** /snɪtʃ/
**IPA (UK):** /snɪtʃ/

## Meanings
1. to inform on someone; an informer

## Examples
- Nobody trusted him after he tried to snitch on his friends.

## Synonyms
- inform
- tattle
- squeal
- grass
- rat
- betray
- tell
- fink

## Antonyms
- shield
- protect
- cover

## Derived Forms
- snitcher

## Etymology
Of uncertain origin; originally 18th-century slang for 'the nose', later 'an informer' and 'to inform'. The semantic link may be through 'nose' as one who pries, but the connection is not firmly established.

## AI Etymology
Snitch is of uncertain origin, originally 18th-century slang for 'the nose', later 'an informer' and 'to inform'. The semantic link may be through 'nose' as one who pries, but the connection is not firmly established. Older glosses in the chain include "the nose", "an informer", "to inform", and "nose", which help explain the semantic range of the modern word. Morphologically, snitch is best read as uncertain formation, yielding an English verb and noun shaped by both form history and later usage. In current English it functions as a verb and noun, with the sense "to inform on someone; an informer". English derivatives include snitcher. The result is an English verb and noun whose etymology preserves the older forms while supporting the word's specialized modern meaning.

## Topics
- Actions & Processes

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