Sc. and north. dial. Also 9 sneish; 8–9 snish. [? Back-formation from next; but cf. SNUSH sb., of which the Gloucester dial. snish is probably a variant. Ir. Gael. has snaois.] a. Snuff. b. A pinch of snuff.
The verb sneesh to snuff, and sneesher a snuffer, are also current in mod. Sc. dial. (recorded from 1801–9).
1786. Har’st Rig, xix. (1801), 10. Led on by Malcom, honest man, Wha taks his snish.
1817. [R. D. C. Brown], Lintoun Green, 57. Whan takan’ o’ a sneesh.
1874. Hislop, Scot. Anecd., 6. She did not care one pinch o’ snish!
attrib. 1825. [see SNEEZE sb. 1 b].
