snuffer

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   a small cone or bell on a handle used to extinguish a candle flame

   She lowered the brass snuffer over the candle before leaving the room.

2. 2
   noun

   historical, usually plural: a scissor-like tool used to trim the charred end of a candlewick

   A pair of snuffers lay beside the candlesticks, ready to trim each smoking wick.

Formed from snuff + the agent or instrument suffix -er. The relevant verb snuff meant to remove a candlewick's charred end and then to extinguish a flame. Snuffer consequently names both the bell-shaped extinguisher and, historically in the plural snuffers, the wick-trimming scissors.

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