snootful

English

WOTD – 4 May 2012

Etymology

snoot +‎ -ful

Pronunciation

IPA: /ˈsnuːtfʊl/, X-SAMPA: /"snu:tfUl/

Noun

snootful (plural snootfuls)

(informal) A noseful.
- 1996, Gary Ferguson, The Yellowstone Wolves: The First Year :
  Suddenly the Soda Butte animals are getting great snootfuls of scent laid down over the past month by other wolves, which apparently leaves them with a certain longing for their own quiet, unsullied digs far to the northeast...
- 2002, S. Wishnevsky, Quetzalsong, page 124:
  It took almost to noon, and quite a bit of slow, careful rolling, and more than a few snootfuls of seawater, but finally he was free.
- 2009, Steve Berman, So Fey: Queer Fairy Fiction, page 229:
  Imps see pixies as uppity, giggly snobs, sniffing too many snootfuls of pollen.
(informal) A significant ingested quantity of an alcoholic beverage.
- 1922, P. G. Wodehouse, Right Ho, Jeeves, ch. 13:
  Only active measures, promptly applied, can provide this poor, pusillanimous poop with the proper pep. And that is why, Jeeves, I intend tomorrow to secure a bottle of gin and lace his luncheon orange juice with it liberally. . . . The truth of the matter being that he is just a plain, ordinary poop and needs a snootful as badly as ever man did.
- 1963 Nov. 1, "Cartoonists: E's Luv'ly," Time:
  His bulbous nose glows whenever he has a snootful, which is nearly every night.
- 1987 May 22, John Gross, "Books of the Times" (review of The Paris Edition by Waverley Root), New York Times (retrieved 1 Nov 2011):
  [H]e recalls most of his colleagues and their rough-and-tumble exploits. Spencer Bull, for instance, who was a good reporter with one weakness . . . "He lost the ability to distinguish between fact and fantasy when he had a snootful."

Derived terms

have a snootful

Translations

noseful

Finnish: nenän täydeltä, nenällinen

significant amount of ingested alcohol

Finnish: kunnon hörppy

German: sternhagelvoll (de)