Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)
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First published 1971 (SND Vol. VIII). Includes material from the 2005 supplement.
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
SNUVE, v., n. Also snoove, snuive, snove, sniv-, snuif-, and misprint snoor (Slg. 1901 R. Buchanan Works 159); pa.t. snuift (Sc. 1911 S.D.D.). Freq. form snoovle, -el. [†snø:v; snu:v]
I. v. 1. tr. and intr. To twist, to twirl, to spin, to make yarn.Sc. 1722 Ramsay Poems (S.T.S.) III. 20:
A Wife that snoovs a spindle.Ags. 1794 W. Anderson Piper of Peebles 6:
Some [in spinning flax] their right-side cleas row'd up, An' snoov'd upo' the nakit hip.Sc. 1808 Jam.:
A boy's top is said to snuve, when it whirls round with great velocity.Slg. 1808 W. Watson Poems 40:
This warld's something like a wheel, An' whiles it snooves awa fu weel.Fif. 1886 G. Bruce Poems 48:
An' [he] snooves in plate, wi' holy smirk That broon bawbee.Edb. 1923 Sc. Univ. Verses 135:
Ye grim auld deevil, how's yersel? Oft hae I cursed your snoovin' shell [of a gun].Sc. 1926 Edb. Evening News (6 Aug.) 4:
He gaured it stot, he gaured it snuve, So that its capers he micht prove.
2. To move smoothly or easily, at a steady even pace, to glide (Sc. 1808 Jam.; Ayr. 1923 Wilson D. Burns 186; Abd. 1948), freq. of a ship.Sc. 1719 in Ramsay Poems (S.T.S.) I. 128:
The Pleasure counterpois'd the Cumber, And snoov't away like three Hand Omber.Ayr. 1786 Burns To Auld Mare xiv.:
But just thy step a wee thing hastit, Thou snoov't awa.Uls. 1804 J. Orr Poems (1936) 138:
To see at night the surface fine An' snove, an' snore thro' waves o' brine.Sc. 1823 Wilson Marg. Lyndesay xxxi.:
I could gar the summer-fallow, or the stubble rigs, gang snoving aff frae the coulter like bits o' waves from the boatie's side.Edb. 1828 D. M. Moir Mansie Wauch xv.:
Up cam the two lights snoov-snooving, nearer and nearer.Dmb. 1844 W. Cross Disruption xxix.:
The steam bott was a dour theef and snoovt awa and snoovt awa.Bnff. 1869 W. Knight Auld Yule 31:
The door in cautious jee begoud and moved, And sleely on its rusty hinges snooved.Knr. 1891 H. Haliburton Idylls 21:
He snooves alang like ane in sleep.Gall. a.1897 R. Ringan's Plewman Cracks 34:
The biddable beasts snooved on weel-paired.Rxb. 1925 E. C. Smith Mang Howes 11:
A snuived steevely on aboot therty yirds ahint um.Lth. 1928 S. A. Robertson With Double Tongue 34:
The Tyne snooves eastwards its ain gait.em.Sc. 1988 James Robertson in Joy Hendry Chapman 52 71:
Sae they sat an they spied, an the hours drave on, an their lang lyart bairds raxed doun tae their kists, an on they sat, watchin the submarines snoove in an out tae Rosyth, ... m.Sc. 1994 John Burns in James Robertson A Tongue in Yer Heid 27:
The fish had gane as if it had never been, snoovin awa throu the liquid derkness, but he could still see it airchin ower the Pool ringit in schimmerin licht.
3. To move in a careless, slovenly or abject manner, to slink, sneak, to skulk, to idle, to loaf (s.Sc. 1802 J. Sibbald Chron. Sc. Poetry Gl.; Rxb., Cld. 1825 Jam.; Rxb. 1923 Watson W.-B., Rxb. 1971). Also ppl.adj. snoovin. Deriv. snoovle, -el, id.Ayr. 1786 Burns What ails ye now vi.:
Wi' pinch I put a Sunday's face on, An' snoov'd awa' before the Session.Lnk. a.1832 W. Watt Poems (1860) 39:
It gars him snoove aboon't wi' hingin' head.Bnff. 1869 W. Knight Auld Yule 34:
The e'enin' saw us snoovin' to the house Wi' hingin' lugs, and aspect geyan douce.Sc. 1874 W. Allan Hame-Spun Lilts 342:
They snoovle an' stoiter life's charter away.Abd. 1900 J. Milne Poems 36:
Sma' gweed can come to ony wicht That learns to snoove about at nicht.Dmf. 1920 J. L. Waugh Heroes iii.:
He snooveled aboot an' better snooveled.wm.Sc. 1937 W. Hutcheson Chota Chants 5:
He snooved in ben as gleglipped as a gipsy.em.Sc. 2000 James Robertson The Fanatic 263:
'Ye were richt,' Sir Andrew said. 'And noo I'll tell ye somethin else I ken. Primrose is a sleekit, snoovin snake, and nane o the pleaders had better fash him if they want tae win this case. On the contrary, I doot they'll aw be gleg tae be freens wi him.'
II. n. 1. A twisting movement, a twirl.Ags. 1822 Scots Mag. (April) 482:
The original velocity of [the spindle's] motion being communicated by a dexterous twitch, termed a snoove, between the palm of the hand and the outside of the operator's thigh.
2. An idler, a “layabout”, a mean sneak, an abject or cringing person. Dim. sn(u)ivie, id., a slowcoach, a dull-witted person (Rxb. 1923 Watson W.-B., Rxb. 1971), used adj. = sheepish, awkward (Bwk. 1825 Jam., snuifie).Rxb. 1918 Kelso Chronicle (5 April) 4:
Geordie's no' what ye micht ca' a smert gude-lookin' chap, but he's no' a snuive.
