SNIRTLENOUN
a suppressed laugh; a sneer ...1834 Scot. & N. Eng. dial. VERB to laugh in a quiet, suppressed, or restrained manner; to snigger; to sneer ...1785 Scot. & N. Eng. dial. ETYMOLOGY from snirt vb. to laugh in a suppressed manner (Scot. & N. Eng. dial.) FIRST DOCUMENTED USE 1785 - see Example below EXAMPLE "...But through his little heart did grieve, When round the tinkler prest her, He feigned to snirtle in his sleeve, When thus the caird address'd her. From: The Jolly Beggars By: Robert Burns, 1785 SOURCES • A New English Dictionary on Historical Principles, James Murray, 1887-1933 • The Century Dictionary and Encyclopedia, William Dwight Whitney, 1889-1891 • The English Dialect Dictionary, Joseph Wright, 1898-1905 • An Etymological Dictionary of the Scottish Language, John Jamieson, 1879-1887 • A Dictionary of Lowland Scotch, Charles Mackay, 1888
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