v. Now dial. Also 8 snuzle. [? variant of NUZZLE v.1 Cf. SNOOZLE v.]
1. intr. a. Of swine: To rout about with the snout or nose.
1737. Bracken, Farriery Impr. (1757), II. 130. Swine will thrive best when they have the Opportunity of … snuzling about, and picking up the Oats, &c.
b. Of a dog: To sniff or poke with the nose.
1861. Hughes, Tom Brown at Oxf., iii. A way he [a dog] had of going ‘snuzzling’ about the calves of strangers.
2. dial. Of persons, esp. children: To nuzzle, snuggle, or settle down comfortably.
1781. J. Hutton, Tour to Caves (ed. 2), Gloss. 96. Snuzzle, to hide the face in the bosom as children. [Hence in Grose (1790), Holloway, etc.]
1869–. in dial. glossaries, etc. (Yks., Lanc., Chesh., Nott.).
