Scoff vs Sniff - What's the difference?
scoff | sniff |
Derision; ridicule; a derisive or mocking expression of scorn, contempt, or reproach.
* Shakespeare
* 1852 , The Dublin University Magazine (page 66)
An object of scorn, mockery, or derision.
* Cowper
To jeer; laugh at with contempt and derision.
* Goldsmith
(British) To eat food quickly.
(South Africa) To eat.
An instance of sniffing.
A quantity of something that is inhaled through the nose
A brief perception
* {{quote-news
, year=2011
, date=November 3
, author=Chris Bevan
, title=Rubin Kazan 1 - 0 Tottenham
, work=BBC Sport
(ambitransitive) To make a short, audible inhalation, through the nose, as if to smell something.
To say something while sniffing, for example in case of illness or unhappiness, or in contempt.
To perceive vaguely
To be dismissive or contemptuous of something.
(computing) To intercept and analyse packets of data being transmitted over a network.
(slang, UK) To inhale drugs in powder form (usually cocaine) through the nose.
As nouns the difference between scoff and sniff
is that scoff is derision; ridicule; a derisive or mocking expression of scorn, contempt, or reproach while sniff is an instance of sniffing.As verbs the difference between scoff and sniff
is that scoff is to jeer; laugh at with contempt and derision while sniff is to make a short, audible inhalation, through the nose, as if to smell something.scoff
English
Etymology 1
From (etyl) scof/skof, of Scandinavian origin. Compare (etyl) skaup, Danish skuffelse(noun)/skuffe(verb) and Old High German scoph.Noun
(en noun)- With scoffs , and scorns, and contumelious taunts.
- There were sneers, and scoffs , and inuendoes of some; prophecies of failure in a hundred ways
- The scoff of withered age and beardless youth.
Synonyms
* derision, ridicule * See alsoVerb
- Truth from his lips prevailed with double sway, / And fools who came to scoff , remained to pray.
Synonyms
* contemn, deride, sneerEtymology 2
From (etyl).Verb
Synonyms
* (eat quickly) (l), (l) (US)See also
* scuffsniff
English
Noun
(en noun)- She gave the flowers a quick sniff to check they were real.
citation, page= , passage=Tottenham did have a sniff of goal when Defoe's drilled cross just eluded his strike partner at the far post but their best effort came early in the second half when Ryan Fredericks cut in from the right before firing into the side netting.}}
Verb
(en verb)- The dog sniffed around the park, searching for a nice scent.
- I sniffed the meat to see if it hadn't gone off.
- "He's never coming back, is he?" she sniffed while looking at a picture of him.
- I can sniff trouble coming from the basement.