Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English homepage

Date: 1300-1400
Origin: From the sound

sniff

1 verb
     
NEW! See related topics: DRUG CULTURE
sniff1
1 [intransitive] to breathe air into your nose noisily, for example when you are crying or have a cold:
Margaret sniffed miserably and nodded.
Stop sniffing and blow your nose.
2 [intransitive and transitive] to breathe air in through your nose in order to smell something:
He opened the milk and sniffed it.
sniff at
The dog was sniffing at the carpet.
3 [transitive] to say something in a way that shows you think something is not good enough:
'Is that all?' she sniffed.
4 [transitive]MDD to take a harmful drug by breathing it up your nose [↪ snort]:
kids who sniff glue

sniff at something

phrasal verb
1

something is not to be sniffed at

spoken especially British English used to say that something is good enough to be accepted or considered seriously:
An 8% salary increase is not to be sniffed at.
2 to refuse something in a proud way, or behave as if something is not good enough for you:
He sniffed at my choice of restaurants and suggested his own favorite.

sniff something ↔ out

phrasal verb
1 to discover or find something by its smell:
A customs officer came round with a dog to sniff out drugs.
2 informal to find out or discover something:
Vic's been trying to sniff out where you went last night.
WORD FOCUS: breathe WORD FOCUS: breathe
to breathe in: inhale formal
to breathe out: exhale formal
to breathe noisily: sniff, snore (when sleeping)
snort, sigh
to breathe with difficulty: gasp, pant, wheeze, be short of breath, be out of breath
to be unable to breathe: choke, suffocatebreathe

➔ See also breathe
Definition from the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
Advanced Learner's Dictionary.
 
Dictionary pictures of the day
Do you know what each of these is called?
What is the word for picture 1? What is the word for picture 2? What is the word for picture 3? What is the word for picture 4?
Click on any of the pictures above to find out what it is called.

Explore our topic dictionary

ADVERTISING AND MARKETINGANIMALSBANKING
BIOLOGYBUSINESS BASICSCOMPUTERS
CLOTHESDAILY LIFEEDUCATION
FINANCEFOODGRAMMAR
HAIR AND BEAUTYHUMANLAW
MUSICNATURESPORT
STOCKS AND SHARESTECHNOLOGYTRADE