To snag on, verb. phr. (American).—To attach oneself to another.
Snaggle, verb. (common).—To
angle for poultry.
Snail, subs. (colloquial).—A drone:
cf. slug. Hence as verb. (or to
go at a snail's pace or gallop)
= to move very slowly.
1582. Stanyhurst, Æneid, iv. 689. This sayd shee trots on snayling, lyk a toothshaken old hagge.
1593. Shakspeare, Comedy of Errors, ii. 2, 196. Thou drone, thou snail, thou slug, thou sot.
1725. Bailey, Erasmus, i. 73. I see what Haste you make, you are never the forwarder, you go a snail's gallop.
1748. Richardson, Clarissa, iv. 124. Snail on in a track we are acquainted with.
1821. Coombe, Dr. Syntax, III. iii. He, by degrees, would seldom fail T'adopt the gallop of a snail.
Snake, subs. (old).—1. 'A term
of contempt; 2 (colloquial) = a
secret plotter, a hidden foe: e.g.,
'a snake in the grass.'
1600. Shakspeare, As You Like It, iv. 3. Well, go your way to her, for I see love hath made thee a tame snake.
1612-3. Fletcher, Captain, i. 3. Admit 'em; but no snakes to poison us With poverty.
c.1620. Healy, Disc. New World, 114. The poor snakes dare not so much as wipe their mouthes unless their wives bidde them.
1636. Clitus's Whimzies, 67. For those poore snakes who feed on reversions, a glimpse through the keyhole, or a light through the grate, must be all their prospect.
1638. Randolph, Muses' Looking Glass [Dodsley, Old Plays (Reed), ix. 228]. But I have found him a poor baffled snake.
1677. Coles, Eng.-Lat. Dict. A poore snake, Iries.
3. (tailors').—A skein of silk.
Verb. (thieves').—1. To steal warily: cf. sneak.
2. (American).—To beat; to thrash.
18[?]. Leadstreet, Southern Sketches, 120. Any gal like me . . . ought to be able to snake any man of her heft.
Phrases.—To snake out (along or up) = to drag or worm out; to snake in = to steal in, to draw in; to give one a snake = to vex; to snake the pool = to take the pool (billiards'); a caution to snakes = a matter of surprise, something singular, a revelation (q.v.); snakes in the boots = delirium tremens: also to see snakes; 'As sure as there's snakes in Virginny' = as sure as may be.
1848. Lowell, Biglow Papers. Pomp he snaked up behind, And creeping gradually close to . . . Jest grabbed my leg.
1877. Boston Bulletin, Feb. Although they could not open the doors of the Church to him, perhaps he might be snaked in under the canvas.
1883. Phil. Press, 2810, 4. Unless some legal loophole can be found through which an evasion or extension can be successfully snaked.
1884. Clemens, Huck. Finn. Well, it beats me, and snaked a lot of letters out of his pocket.
1893. Sci. Amer., N. S., lxix. 265. After mining the log is easily snaked out of the swamp.
1897. Marshall, Pomes, 'Her Sunday Clothes,' 105. Her Sunday best was her week-day worst, 'Twas simply a caution to snakes.
Snake-in-the-grass, subs. phr.
(rhyming).—A glass.
See Snake.
Snakesman. See Sneak.
Snam, verb. (thieves').—To steal:
spec. to snatch from the person:
also on the snam.
