snuffle

Meanings

1. 1
   verb

   to breathe, sniff, or sniffle noisily through the nose

   The congested child snuffled quietly beneath the blankets.

2. 2
   verb

   to smell something with repeated noisy breaths through the nose

   The dog snuffled around the doorway, searching for the hidden treat.

3. 3
   noun

   a noisy nasal breath or sniff

   A soft snuffle from the basket showed that the puppy was awake.

Probably borrowed from or influenced by Low German and Dutch snuffelen, 'to sniff or snuffle,' and shaped in English as snuff + the frequentative suffix -le.

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