Forms: 2 sneare, 4– snare, 5 snayr, 6 snayre, 6–7 Sc. snair, 4 snarr, 5–6 snar. [In sense 1 a. ON. snara (Icel. snara, Norw. snara, snora, snuru; MSw. and Sw. snara, Da. snare) noose, snare, = OHG. snarahha snare, and related to OHG. and MHG. snar (obs. or dial. G. schnarre), OS. snari (MLG. and LG. snare, snar), MDu. snare, snaer (Du. snaar), string. Sense 2 is probably from the Du. or LG. forms.]
1. A device for capturing small wild animals or birds, usually consisting of a string with a running noose in which a foot or the head may be caught. Also in fig. context.
a. 1100. in Napier, O. E. Glosses (1900), 26/2. Tenticulam, .i. decipulam, þelman, snearan, wocie.
a. 1300. E. E. Psalter ix. 16. In þis snare whilk þai hid swa Gripen es þe fote of þa.
c. 1325. Metr. Hom., 70. Lorde, what thyng sall passe qwyte, And be noght in this snarres tane.
1398. Trevisa, Barth. De P. R., V. xxiii. (Bodl. MS.). Ofte by swete soune þe fouler bringeþ hem to grenes and snares swetlich.
c. 1440. Promp. Parv., 461/2. Snare, laqueus, pedica.
1483. Cath. Angl., 346/2. A Snare…, vbi A gylder.
1535. Coverdale, Amos iii. 5. Taketh a man his snare vp from the grounde, afore he catche somwhat?
1570. Levins, Manip., 202/40. A Snayre, laqueus, pedica.
1697. Dryden, Virg. Georg., I. 413. The proper time … For stalking Cranes to set the guileful Snare.
1731. Medley, trans. Kolben’s Cape G. Hope, II. 149. Several Snares, made of Horse-Hairs, twisted together, are hung between the Branches.
1774. Goldsm., Nat. Hist. (1776), IV. 167. They either catch them in snares, or take them by surprize.
1847. Tennyson, Princess, I. 218. The nightingale, Rapt in her song, and careless of the snare.
1885. Hornaday, 2 Years Jungle, ix. 99. They … set no snares, dig no pitfalls, nor capture game in any way whatever.
b. In fig. and allusive uses.
a. 1300. Cursor M., 29532. Þat þou mai lightloker þam here, Ar þou be laght in findes snarr.
a. 1340. Hampole, Psalter cxxiii. 6. Þe swetnes of þis life is snare þat þe deuyl gildirs men with.
1412–20. Lydg., Chron. Troy, I. 3648. Blendid with lust,… Til in þe snare þei ben englued faste.
1451. Capgrave, Life St. Aug., 12. Faustus, a grete snare of þe deuele, for þis man was þe moost famous heretik of all þe Manicheis.
1538. Starkey, England, II. i. 156. The daungerys and snarys of the world.
1576. Gascoigne, Philomene, Wks. 1910, II. 182. Bewtie was the guileful bayte, which caught their lives in Snare.
1641. Milton, Reform., I. Wks. 1851, III. 30. Such commands were no commands, but snares.
1710. Lady M. W. Montagu, Lett., lxvii. 112. Ignorance … exposes them to the snares of any … extreme.
1779. J. Moore, View Soc. France (1789), I. i. 5. He who has the vigour to disentangle himself from the snares of deep play.
1825. Scott, Betrothed, xxvii. Their very virtues become snares to them.
1844. Ld. Denman, Judgment O’Connell, 1. Trial by jury itself, instead of being a security to persons who are accused, will be a delusion, a mockery, and a snare.
1866. Martineau, Ess., I. 235. Dr. Mansel falls, we think, into the same snare.
† c. A noose, a halter. Obs.–1
1388. Wyclif, Matt. xxvii. 5. He passide forth, and ȝede, and hongide hym silf with a snare [L. laqueo].
d. Surg. A device, on the principle of a snare, for removing morbid growths.
1884. M. Mackenzie, Dis. Throat & Nose, II. 269. Snares have been used for many years for the removal of polypi.
1897. Allbutt’s Syst. Med., IV. 690. The larger growths … are best removed by the cold snare. Many advocate the use of the incandescent snare.
2. One of the strings of gut or rawhide that are stretched across the lower head of a side-drum.
1688. R. Holme, Armoury, III. xvi. (Roxb.), 61/1. The seuerall parts of a drumme…. The Snares, which is made of Bowell strings.
1867. Smyth, Sailor’s Word-bk., Snares. The cords which pass across the diameter of one hoop at the end of a drum.
1875. Stainer & Barrett, Dict. Mus. Terms, s.v. Side-drum, The lower [surface] having catgut strings called snares, stretched across to check the reverberation.
3. attrib. and Comb. a. In sense 1, as snare-cord, -trap; snare-wise adv.
c. 1375. Sc. Leg. Saints, xii. (Matthias), 288. Resone wald þat vis throt ware vith a snar cord hangyt ful sare.
1611. Cotgr., Anses..., th’ ends of ropes tyed snare-wise, or made into nooses.
1889. Pall Mall Gaz., 30 Sept., 6/3. They manufacture a clever snare-trap for the wild geese.
b. In sense 2, as snare-drum, -head, pin, etc.
1688. R. Holme, Armoury, III. xvi. (Roxb.), 61/1. The seuerall parts of a drumme…. The Snare head. Ibid. The Snare pin, or Screw.
1704. [E. Smith], Athenian Oracle, III. 423. Their drums … received several small shot in the batter heads, which they went through, but immediately struck out again by the Rims, and touch’d not the snare heads.
1875. Stainer & Barrett, Dict. Mus. Terms, s.v. Drum, The lower head has occasionally strings of catgut stretched over its surface, and then it is called a snare drum.
1884. E. Ingersoll, in Harper’s Mag., Sept., 513/2. The little snare-drum trotted bravely along.
