From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishsnuffsnuff1 /snʌf/ verb 1 (also snuff out) [transitive]STOP something THAT IS HAPPENING to stop a candle burning by pressing the burning part with your fingers or by covering it2 → snuff it3 [intransitive, transitive]BREATHESMELL 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→ See Verb table
Examples from the Corpus
snuff• Any hopes of a comeback by the Raiders were snuffed at the start of the second half.• But he was constantly snuffed out by City's engine-room battlers.• What was it all about when some one like Mac could be snuffed out, just like that?• Thompson took a fine ball from Pugh after 12 minutes and again raced clear but Swansea's defence snuffed out the danger.• How could anyone be so evil that they could snuff out the life of a young girl?• The breath was knocked out of him, the spell scattered and snuffed out.• Still, it took another gem, by third baseman Ken Caminiti, to snuff that threat.• The Cowboys had tried to snuff them.snuffsnuff2 noun [uncountable] 1 DFTa 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 snuffExamples from the Corpus
snuff• They never said anything about snuff, silverweed and horse-racing.• She'd taxed him with trading them for snuff, which was his passion, and he'd not denied it.• The probably truth is that, like snuff, he regularly got up aristocratic noses.• But she dipped her thumb and forefinger into the bag and took out a pinch of snuff.• She took a pinch of snuff in her hand and sprinkled it over the note murmuring something under her breath.• One of the mills still produces snuff.• I jumped up in fright and in the process knocked the snuff out of her hand.snuff box• In his hands he holds a snuff box, shaped like a small quiver, and a thin stick.• Its use in the past included the manufacture of spoons and snuff boxes.• Many of Birmingham's population of artisans were occupied in producing trays and caddies, as well as snuff boxes for Virginia tobacco.Origin snuff1 1. (1300-1400) snuff “burned part of a used candle” ((14-19 centuries)). 2. (1500-1600) Dutch snuffen “to sniff” snuff2 (1600-1700) Dutch snuf, from snuftabak, from snuffen ( → SNUFF1) + tabak “tobacco” 