snifter

English

Cognac in a snifter

Etymology

From snift and sniff +‎ -er.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈsnɪftə(ɹ)/

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

Noun

snifter (plural snifters)

1. A small pear-shaped glass used for aromatic liquors such as bourbon and brandy.
   • 2003 January 20, “Getting Saucy”, in Time:

     [H]e springs to another wooden vat and turns a valve, filling a snifter with a warm amber liquid. […] Bang holds the liquid up to the light, swirls it around, takes a sniff of the pungent bouquet, puts the glass to his lips—and gives a satisfied smile.

2. Synonym of nip, a small amount of alcohol, (particularly) equivalent to what a snifter might hold.
   • 1917, Edgar Rice Burroughs, chapter 1, in The Oakdale Affair:

     "I guess you're a regular all right. Here, have a snifter?" and he pulled a flask from his side pocket, holding it toward The Oskaloosa Kid.

3. (chiefly in the plural, with definite article) Synonym of sniffles, various minor ailments involving a runny nose.
   • 1844, Henry Stephens, The Book of the Farm, volume 2, page 260:

     The only disease I can remember to have seen in winter is what is vulgarly called the snifters, that is, a discharge of matter from the nose, which causes a noise in the nose like stifled breathing.

4. (US) A severe storm.

   (The addition of quotations indicative of this usage is being sought:)

Synonyms

• (glass): brandy snifter, brandy glass, brandy bowl, cognac glass, whiskey glass

Derived terms

• brandy snifter

 

Translations

pear-shaped glass

• Bulgarian: чаша за коняк (čaša za konjak)
• Finnish: aromilasi
• French: verre à cognac m, pipe à cognac
• German: Kognakglas (de) n, Kognakschwenker m
• Italian: napoleone (it) m

Verb

snifter (third-person singular simple present snifters, present participle sniftering, simple past and past participle sniftered)

1. To sniff.