I. ˈsnüp verb
( -ed/-ing/-es )
Etymology: Dutch snoepen to buy or eat something on the sly, eat sweets, fornicate; akin to Frisian snobje to buy sweets, Norwegian snopa to eat sweets, throw money away on sweets, Old Norse snoppa snout, snapa to snuffle, snap — more at snap
intransitive verb
: to look or pry in a sneaking or meddlesome manner : search intrusively or pryingly
interception of telephone conversations … is an intrusion into the home … because its purpose and effect is to snoop into what goes on in the home — Wayne Morse
transitive verb
: to pry into, search for, or doggedly or exhaustively search out and examine the affairs, activities, or contents of
knew he was around, they had snooped him for days — Fletcher Pratt
II. noun
( -s )
: snooper