I. snuff 1 /snʌf/ BrE AmE verb
[ Sense 1-2: Date: 1300-1400 ; Origin: snuff 'burned part of a used candle' (14-19 centuries) . ]
[ Sense 3: Date: 1500-1600 ; Language: Dutch ; Origin: snuffen 'to sniff' ]
1 . ( also snuff out ) [transitive] to stop a ↑ candle burning by pressing the burning part with your fingers or by covering it
2 . snuff it British English informal to die
3 . [intransitive and transitive] if an animal snuffs, it breathes air into its nose in a noisy way, especially in order to smell something SYN sniff
snuff something/somebody ↔ out phrasal verb
1 . to stop a ↑ candle burning by pressing the burning part with your fingers or by covering it
2 . to stop or end something in a sudden way:
a rebellion that will snuff out democracy
3 . informal to kill someone:
a young woman snuffed out by an unknown killer
II. snuff 2 BrE AmE noun [uncountable]
[ Date: 1600-1700 ; Language: Dutch ; Origin: snuf , from snuftabak , from snuffen ( ⇨ ↑ snuff 1 ) + tabak 'tobacco' ]
1 . a type of tobacco in powder form, which people breathe in through their noses:
He took a pinch of snuff.
a snuff box (=a small box used to keep snuff in)
2 . up to snuff American English informal good enough for a particular purpose:
A lot of money was spent to bring the building up to snuff.