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snitch
1[ snich ]
verb (used with object)
- to snatch or steal; pilfer.
snitch
2[ snich ]
verb (used without object)
- to turn informer; tattle.
noun
- Also called snitcher. an informer.
snitch
/ snɪtʃ /
verb
- tr to steal; take, esp in an underhand way
- intr to act as an informer
noun
- an informer; telltale
- the nose
Derived Forms
- ˈsnitcher, noun
Word History and Origins
Origin of snitch2
Word History and Origins
Origin of snitch1
Example Sentences
I don’t want anybody to come and snitch to me unless it’s a safety issue or serious work-related issue I need to know about.
A snitch captures the moment on his cellphone, and Ali lands in jail.
They could follow what’s known as the “blue wall of silence,” essentially a code between officers that they won’t snitch on each other or otherwise try to get each other in trouble.
“We see it as a snitch society program,” said Rafael Bautista, the lead organizer with San Diego Tenants United.
Since one of the individuals first started speaking with attorneys in the case, staff began calling him “rat,” “snitch” and routinely refusing to release him for his medications in a timely manner, the documents contend.
Too moderate and the more radical groups call you a snitch, jeopardizing your standing and authority at demonstrations.
The Prosecutor and the Snitch By Maurice Possley - The Marsall Project Did Texas execute an innocent man?
To Connolly and Morris, Bulger was a TE, or top-echelon informant, the highest designation in the Bureau for a snitch.
"A lot of Mexican dudes got family in Mexico, where the cartels can get at them, so they can't snitch," the prisoner says.
If your main source is court docs and snitch statements, you have to understand most of that is not very credible.
Will you promise not to snitch if I tell you how to stop it, even if you don't go there yourself?
If anybody tries to stop us or to snitch you free you'll get the acid in those shining peepers without being able to move.
Pinkie and this double-crossing snitch went there—and only found a note from the White Moll.
They've put th' reward out, and three times since last night some of me own pals 've tried to snitch on me.
Snitch, to give information to the police, to turn approver.
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More About Snitch
What does snitch mean?
Snitch is an insulting name for a person who informs the police or other authorities when others break the law or the rules.
Snitch can refer to an informant who reports a crime or a tattletale who tells on someone, especially to their parents or to a teacher. It can also be used as a verb meaning to inform on or tattle on someone. All uses of this sense of the word are intended to be negative and very insulting.
Less commonly, snitch can be used as a verb meaning to steal, or as a noun meaning the nose.
In the Harry Potter series of books and movies, the golden snitch is the small flying object in the game of quidditch that gets chased after by players called seekers (including Harry Potter himself). Capturing the snitch wins the game for one’s team.
Example: We call you a snitch because you snitched on us for snitching the snitch from McGonagall’s office! Next time keep your mouth shut!
Where does snitch come from?
The first records of snitch comes from the late 1600s, when it referred to a nose. By the late 1700s, it had come to be used as a negative slang term for an informant. By the 1800s, it was used as a verb meaning “to inform or tattle on.” Records of it meaning “to steal” don’t appear until the early 1900s. In this last sense, it may have originated as a variant of the verb snatch. In all other cases, its origin is unknown. (If someone knows it, they’re keeping their mouth shut.)
The person who police call an informant or an informer is called a snitch by criminals. That’s because they don’t want to get snitched on and caught. When it’s used by kids, snitch means much the same thing as tattletale, but it’s perhaps intended to be even more insulting. Snitch is used in the phrase snitches get stitches, in which stitches refers to sutures for a wound, implying a threat of violence to anyone who informs the authorities about people who break the rules. This gives a sense of how snitch is used as an insult. It implies that reporting a crime or other offense is the real offense—that the snitch should have kept quiet about it.
Did you know ... ?
What are some other forms related to snitch?
- snitcher (noun)
What are some synonyms for snitch?
What are some words that share a root or word element with snitch?
What are some words that often get used in discussing snitch?
How is snitch used in real life?
Regardless of whether it refers to a classroom tattletale or a criminal informant, snitch is always used negatively. When used this way, the term often implies that a person snitches on people habitually.
Did winning the integrity award in elementary school twice mean I was a snitch?
— David Reed (@ReedMeLikeABook) December 20, 2019
Someone inside my building is stealing packages. I got two stolen from me today. Were the sponges I ordered valuable? No, but this THIEF does not want to know what kind of crazy they’re dealing with. I’m about to find your childhood home phone number and snitch to your parents
— Kelly Keegs (@kellykeegs) April 22, 2020
Me: STOP SNITCHIN
Also me: Just saw a dude fully chalked up bouldering on the retaining wall at Calvary Cemetery. Requesting backup.
— Matt Lynch (@mbradylynch) April 19, 2020
Try using snitch!
Is snitch used correctly in the following sentence?
Sally got a reputation as a snitch and a goody-goody for telling on the kids who were cheating, but graduating first in her class was her revenge.
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