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snuck - 4 dictionary results

snuck

  [snuhk]
Use snuck in a Sentence
a pp. and pt. of sneak.
Usage note:
See sneak.

sneak

  [sneek] verb, sneaked or snuck, sneak⋅ing, noun
–verb (used without object)
1. to go in a stealthy or furtive manner; slink; skulk.
2. to act in a furtive or underhand way.
3. British Informal. to tattle; inform.
–verb (used with object)
4. to move, put, pass, etc., in a stealthy or furtive manner: He sneaked the gun into his pocket.
5. to do, take, or enjoy hurriedly or surreptitiously: to sneak a cigarette.
–noun
6. a sneaking, underhand, or contemptible person.
7. Informal. a stealthy or furtive departure.
8. British Informal. tattletale; informer.
9. sneaker (def. 1).
10. Informal. a sneak preview.
11. Cards. the lead of a singleton in a suit other than the trump suit, as in whist.
Origin:
1590–1600; var. of ME sniken, OE snīcan to creep; c. ON snīkja to hanker after

Synonyms:
1. steal. See lurk.

Usage note:
First recorded in writing toward the end of the 19th century in the United States, snuck has become in recent decades a standard variant past tense and past participle of the verb sneak: Bored by the lecture, he snuck out the side door. Snuck occurs frequently in fiction and in journalistic writing as well as on radio and television: In the darkness the sloop had snuck around the headland, out of firing range. It is not so common in highly formal or belletristic writing, where sneaked is more likely to occur. Snuck is the only spoken past tense and past participle for many younger and middle-aged persons of all educational levels in the U. S. and Canada. Snuck has occasionally been considered nonstandard, but it is so widely used by professional writers and educated speakers that it can no longer be so regarded.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To snuck
sneak   (snēk)   
v.   sneaked also snuck (snŭk), sneak·ing, sneaks

v.   intr.
  1. To go or move in a quiet, stealthy way.
  2. To behave in a cowardly or servile manner.
v.   tr.
To move, give, take, or put in a quiet, stealthy manner: sneak candy into one's mouth; sneaked a look at the grade sheet.
n.  
  1. A person regarded as stealthy, cowardly, or underhanded.
  2. An instance of sneaking; a quiet, stealthy movement.
  3. Informal A sneaker.
adj.  
  1. Carried out in a clandestine manner: sneak preparations for war.
  2. Perpetrated without warning: a sneak attack.

[Probably akin to Middle English sniken, to creep, from Old English snīcan.]
Usage Note: Snuck is an Americanism first introduced in the 19th century as a nonstandard regional variant of sneaked. Widespread use of snuck has become more common with every generation. It is now used by educated speakers in all regions. Formal written English is more conservative than other varieties, of course, and here snuck still meets with much resistance. Many writers and editors have a lingering unease about the form, particularly if they recall its nonstandard origins. And 67 percent of the Usage Panel disapproved of snuck in our 1988 survey. Nevertheless, an examination of recent sources shows that snuck is sneaking up on sneaked. Snuck was almost 20 percent more common in newspaper articles published in 1995 than it was in 1985. Snuck also appears in the work of many respected columnists and authors: "He ran up huge hotel bills and then snuck out without paying" (George Stade). "He had snuck away from camp with a cabinmate" (Anne Tyler). "I ducked down behind the paperbacks and snuck out" (Garrison Keillor).
snuck   (snŭk)   
v.   Usage Problem
A past tense and a past participle of sneak. See Usage Note at sneak.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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