sneeze
noun
- reflexive, convulsive expulsion of air from the lungs through the nose and mouth
verb
- reflexively and convulsively expel air from the lungs through the nose and mouth
Wiktionary
Pronunciation: /sniːz/
noun
Etymology: From Middle English snesen (“to sneeze”), alteration of earlier fnesen (“to sneeze”), from Old English fnēosan (“to sneeze, snort”), from Proto-West Germanic *fneusan, from Proto-Germanic *fneusaną, from Proto-Indo-European *pnew- (“to breathe, pant, snort, sneeze”). Cognate with dialectal Dutch fniezen (“to sneeze”), Old Norse fnýsa (“to snort”). Compare neeze, from Middle English nesen, from Old English *hnēosan (“to sneeze”), cognate with Old High German niosan (“to sneeze”), Old Norse hnjósa (“to sneeze”). See neeze. It has been suggested that the change could be due to a misinterpretation of the uncommon initial sequence fn- as ſn- (sn- written with a long s), although the change is regular, seen also in snore and snort from Middle English fnoren and fnorten, and in late Middle English snatted from earlier Middle English fnatted (“snub-nosed”). The fn- forms of all these words fell out of use in the 1400s. Due to this rather universal adoption of the fn- > sn- shift within English by such a time frame, the idea of it being a simple sound shift has been suggested as well, with the specifically being a type of assimilation as the bilabial f- becomes alveolar s- to match the place of articulation of the following n-.
- An act of sneezing.
“Jared's hay fever gives him terrible sneezes.”
verb
Etymology: From Middle English snesen (“to sneeze”), alteration of earlier fnesen (“to sneeze”), from Old English fnēosan (“to sneeze, snort”), from Proto-West Germanic *fneusan, from Proto-Germanic *fneusaną, from Proto-Indo-European *pnew- (“to breathe, pant, snort, sneeze”). Cognate with dialectal Dutch fniezen (“to sneeze”), Old Norse fnýsa (“to snort”). Compare neeze, from Middle English nesen, from Old English *hnēosan (“to sneeze”), cognate with Old High German niosan (“to sneeze”), Old Norse hnjósa (“to sneeze”). See neeze. It has been suggested that the change could be due to a misinterpretation of the uncommon initial sequence fn- as ſn- (sn- written with a long s), although the change is regular, seen also in snore and snort from Middle English fnoren and fnorten, and in late Middle English snatted from earlier Middle English fnatted (“snub-nosed”). The fn- forms of all these words fell out of use in the 1400s. Due to this rather universal adoption of the fn- > sn- shift within English by such a time frame, the idea of it being a simple sound shift has been suggested as well, with the specifically being a type of assimilation as the bilabial f- becomes alveolar s- to match the place of articulation of the following n-.
- To expel air as a reflex induced by an irritation in the nose.
“To avoid passing on your illness, you should sneeze into your sleeve.”
- To expel air as if the nose were irritated.
- To expel or displace (air, snot, etc) from the nose or mouth by the process above.
“Lily shook her head violently and sneezed a large blue-bottle fly from where that insect had perched itself on the tip of her nose.”
“When I crossed the road, I sneezed a big achoo! My nose started to feel itchy.”