snarled; snarling; snarls
1
: to cause to become knotted and intertwined : tangle
2
: to make excessively complicated
: to become snarled
1
: a tangle especially of hairs or thread : knot
2
: a tangled situation
traffic snarls
snarled; snarling; snarls
1
: to growl with a snapping, gnashing, or display of teeth
2
: to give vent to anger in surly language
: to utter or express with a snarl or by snarling
Examples of snarl in a Sentence
Verb (1)
you'll be awfully sorry if you snarl your fishing line
Noun (1)
to no avail, the city promotes carpooling to help ease the traffic snarls that always accompany rush hour
Verb (2)
she snarled at me after I kept badgering her with questions
Recent Examples on the Web
Lynn Yaeger, Vogue, 25 Mar. 2025
That muscular electric motor’s torque is the real difference that makes this E-class a worthy AMG tuner car for those who value the benefits of exemplary performance but don’t need a snarling beast of a high-performance car.
—Mark Ewing, Forbes, 22 Mar. 2025
Joshua Kloke, The Athletic, 1 Jan. 2025
Adabi said adding traffic lanes does not necessarily relieve freeway congestion, though that seems to be the most straight-forward approach to solving the snarls.
—Darrell Smith, Sacramento Bee, 10 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for snarl
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Verb
Here’s to Daniela Villegas’s funny fish; and Christina Alexiou’s snarling snake!
—Lynn Yaeger, Vogue, 25 Mar. 2025
That muscular electric motor’s torque is the real difference that makes this E-class a worthy AMG tuner car for those who value the benefits of exemplary performance but don’t need a snarling beast of a high-performance car.
—Mark Ewing, Forbes, 22 Mar. 2025
Noun
Kokkonen needs more snarl After drawing praise from Sheldon Keefe to start training camp last year, Mikko Kokkonen is quietly putting together another stellar AHL season.
—Joshua Kloke, The Athletic, 1 Jan. 2025
Adabi said adding traffic lanes does not necessarily relieve freeway congestion, though that seems to be the most straight-forward approach to solving the snarls.
—Darrell Smith, Sacramento Bee, 10 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for snarl
Cite this Entry
“Snarl.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/snarl. Accessed 6 Apr. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
snarl
1 of 4 noun1
: a tangle especially of hairs or thread : knot
2
: a tangled situation
a traffic snarl
snarl
2 of 4 verb
: to get into a tangle
snarl
3 of 4 verb1
: to growl with a snapping or showing of teeth
2
: to speak in an angry way
3
: to utter with a snarl
snarler
noun
snarl
4 of 4 noun
: an angry growl
Etymology
Noun
Middle English snarle "snare, noose," probably from snarlen "to trap, entangle"
Verb
from obsolete snar "to growl"
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