snarfed; snarfing; snarfs

transitive verb

: to eat (something) quickly or greedily : scoff entry 3
snarfed down some pizza
… class-action lawyers who gobbled up Monday's ruling like Iditarod [Trail Sled Dog Race] dogs snarfing kibble. Steven Levy
In locker rooms all over Florida and Arizona, the ersatz baseball players are snarfing up the free food as if there were no tomorrow. George Vecsey
More workers snarf down lunch at their desks instead of at restaurants or the employee cafeteria, according to a survey from KFC, the fast-food chain. The Wall Street Journal

Examples of snarf in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
The data the hackers snarfed up came from May through October 2022 and Jan. 2, 2023. Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times, 17 July 2024 Maybe there’s a group of high school kids snarfing down their subs after school. Whizy Kim, Vox, 24 June 2024

Word History

Etymology

perhaps blend of snack entry 2 and scarf entry 3

First Known Use

circa 1963, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of snarf was circa 1963

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Cite this Entry

“Snarf.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/snarf. Accessed 25 Mar. 2025.

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