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snell

Pronunciation: /snɛl/

The English word “snell” has 5 meanings listed here.

adjective

  1. Quick, smart; sharp, active, brisk or nimble; lively.
  2. Quick-witted; clever.
  3. Harsh, severe, or stinging.

noun

  1. A short line of horsehair, gut, monofilament, etc., by which a fishhook or lure is attached to a longer (and usually heavier) line.

verb

  1. To tie a hook to the end of a fishing line with a snell knot.

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English snell (“quick, fast”) from Old English snell, snel (“lively, quick”) from Proto-West Germanic *snell, from Proto-Germanic *snellaz (“active, swift, brisk”). Akin to Dutch snel (“fast, quick”), German Low German snell (“quick”), German schnell (“quick, swift”), Yiddish שנעל (shnel, “quick, swift”), Italian snello (“quick, nimble”), Old French esnel, isnel (“snell”),…

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Definitions are from Wiktionary, extracted by Kaikki.org, and are available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.