Forms: α. 5 snevel, -yl, 6 -yll, 6–7 -il, 7 -ill; 6 sneuyll, -il, 6–7 -ill; 6 sneeuel, -ill, 9 Sc. sneevel, -il. β. 6 snyuell, sniuil, -yll, 6–7 -ell; 7 snivell, -ill, 7– snivel. [f. SNIVEL v.]
1. Mucus collected in, or issuing from, the nose.
α. 14[?]. Parts Body, in Wr.-Wülcker, 631. Pus nasi, snevel of þe nose.
c. 1440. Jacob’s Well, 247. Wype wyth þi tunge oute of my nase þe snevyl þat hangyth þer-inne.
1530. Palsgr., 272/1. Snevyll whan it hangeth at ones nose, rovpie, boe. Ibid. (1540), Acolastus, I j. He wolde throwe the sneuyll of his nose into it.
1626. Breton, Pasquil’s Madcappe, xi. As sower, As beldam’s milke that turned with her sneuill.
1671. Salmon, Syn. Med., I. liv. 136. Without avoiding any thing, except bloody or filthy Matter, like Snevil.
β. 1519. Horman, Vulg., 28 b. Thy nose is full of snyuell.
1548. Elyot, Mucosus, snattye,… fulle of sniuyll.
1593. G. Harvey, Pierce’s Super., Wks. (Grosart), II. 238. I will … squise thy braine to sniuell, whereof it was curdled.
1621. Burton, Anat. Mel., III. ii. VI. iii. (1651), 562. Snot and snivell in her nostrils, spittle in her mouth.
1682. Enq. Elect. Sheriffs, 46. I will sooner worship the Sun, than … the Snot and Snivel of Loyala’s Nose.
1739. R. Bull, trans. Dedekindus’ Grobianus, 11. If with your Elbow you wipe off the Snivel, No Man alive shall be esteem’d more civil.
1871. R. Ellis, Catullus, xxiii. 17. Thee sweat frets not,… Frets not snivel or oozy rheumy nostril.
b. A condition of the nose marked by the accumulation of mucus. Also the snivels.
1600. Surflet, Countrie Farme, I. xxviii. 188. For the sniuell, take orpin and brimstone [etc.].
1844. G. Lowson, Mod. Farrier, 209. This affection is termed the snores or snivels.
1877. Holderness Gloss., 132/1. Snivels, a cold, accompanied by a difficulty of breathing, and a running at the nose.
† 2. Saliva. Obs.–1
1697. Phil. Trans., XX. 50. The Snivel or Drivel that comes from the Mouth of a Dog … when mad.
† 3. (See quot.) Obs.
1693. Evelyn, De la Quint. Compl. Gard., II. 195. Grounds … that being colder and stronger or heavier, easily infect them [lettuces] with slimy Snivel [= ‘a sort of rotting moisture, hanging about some plants’].
4. A slight sniff indicating, or intended to suggest, suppressed emotion.
1848. Dickens, Dombey, xxxix. Rob … took up the pieces one by one with a sob and a snivel for each.
1866. Gilpin, Songs Cumbld., 280. Sae wi’ snuffs an’ sneevils [he] Rair’t out.
1890. Daily News, 18 Feb., 5/2. A carefully arranged and expressive ‘snivel’ is regarded as their most valuable acquirement.
b. A show or pretence of emotion; hypocritical expression of feeling.
1878. E. Jenkins, Haverholme, 194. Lords and ladies … penned elegiacs to his praise in tears and snivel.
1886. St. James’s Gaz., 9 Feb. (Cassell). The cant and snivel of which we have seen so much of late.
5. attrib. and Comb., as snivel-bottle, -guts, -monger, -nose.
1690. Dryden, Amphitryon, III. i. A received opinion, snivel-guts.
1778. Exmoor Scolding, Gloss., Snibble-nose, or rather Snivel-nose, one who snuffs up the Snot.
1792. Wolcot (P. Pindar), Ep. Sir W. Hamilton, Wks. 1812, III. 185. More snivel-bottles, jordens, and old jugs.
1896. A. Morrison, Child of the Jago, 149. He preferred the frank rogue before the calculating snivel-monger.
