Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A length of fine fishing line that connects a hook to a heavier line; a leader.
  • noun The knot used to affix such a length of line to a hook.
  • transitive verb To affix a snell to (a hook).

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A short piece of gut, gimp, or sea-grass on which fishhooks are tied; a snood.
  • Active; brisk; nimble; spirited.
  • Keen; piercing; sharp; severe; hard: as, a snell frost.
  • To tie or fasten to a line or gut, as a hook for angling.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun A short line of horsehair, gut, etc., by which a fishhook is attached to a longer line.
  • adjective Archaic or Prov. Eng. & Scot. Active; brisk; nimble; quick; sharp.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective Active, brisk or nimble; Lively.
  • adjective Quick, sudden; Sharp.
  • adjective Quick-witted; Witty.
  • adjective Harsh; Severe.
  • noun A short line of horsehair, gut, monofilament, etc., by which a fishhook or lure is attached to a longer (and usually heavier) line.
  • verb To tie a hook to the end of a fishing line with a snell knot.

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Origin unknown.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Middle English snell "quick, fast" from Old English snel, snell "lively, quick" from Proto-Germanic *snellaz (“active, swift, brisk”). Akin to Old Saxon snel, snell "active, strenuous" (Dutch snel), Old High German snel (whence German schnell "quick, swift", Italian snello "quick, nimble", Old French esnel, isnel "snell", and Occitan isnel, irnel "snell"), Old Norse snjallr "skillful, excellent".

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Origin Unknown.

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Examples

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  • Scots - sharp, severe.

    December 10, 2007

  • The item described by the CD&C is also known as a snood, sneed, or sed. See also snod and cockernonny.

    November 9, 2011