snipe

1. pl., snipe, or snipes.
   1. Any of various long-billed shore birds of the genus Gallinago or Capella, related to the woodcocks and sandpipers, especially the common, widely distributed species G. gallinago or C. gallinago.
   2. Any of various similar or related birds.
2. A shot, especially a gunshot, from a concealed place.

1. To shoot at individuals from a concealed place.
2. To shoot snipe.
3. To make malicious, underhand remarks or attacks.

[Middle English, probably from Old Norse -snīpa (as in mȳrisnīpa, marsh snipe).]

(click to enlarge)
Common snipe (Gallinago gallinago). (credit: Ingmar Holmasen)

Any of about 20 species of birds (family Scolopacidae) that frequent wet meadows and marshes in temperate and warm regions worldwide. They are short-legged and chunky, with brown, black, and white stripes and bars. The wings are pointed and angular. The long, flexible bill is used to probe mud for worms. The common snipe (Gallinago gallinago) is about 12 in. (30 cm) long, including the bill.

For more information on snipe, visit Britannica.com.

Sheets containing extra information that are pasted at the bottom of an outdoor poster. For example, a poster for a national chain may have room for sheets giving the addresses of individual franchises. See also overlay.

v. shoot at someone from a hiding place, especially accurately and at long range: the soldiers in the trench sniped at us.

sniper n.

See the Introduction, Abbreviations and Pronunciation for further details.

For other uses, see Snipe (disambiguation).

Snipes
Common Snipe (Gallinago gallinago)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Charadriiformes
Family:	Scolopacidae
Genera
Coenocorypha Gallinago Lymnocryptes

A snipe is any of nearly 20 wading bird species in three genera in the family Scolopacidae. They are characterized by a very long, slender bill and cryptic plumage. The Gallinago snipes have a nearly worldwide distribution, the Lymnocryptes Jack Snipe is restricted to Asia and Europe and the Coenocorypha snipes are found only in New Zealand. The three species of painted snipe are not closely related to the typical snipes, and are placed in their own family, the Rostratulidae.

Contents 1 Taxonomy 2 Behavior 3 Historical facts 4 Genera 5 See also 6 Footnotes 7 External links

Taxonomy

The snipe make up part of the wader family Scolopacidae. The 15 typical snipes in the genus Gallinago are the closest relatives of the woodcocks, whereas the small genera Coenocorypha (the New Zealand snipes) and Lymnocryptes represent earlier divergences in the snipe/woodcock clade^[1]

Behavior

Snipe search for invertebrates in the mud with a "sewing-machine" action of their long bills. Most have distinctive displays, usually given at dawn or dusk.

Historical facts

The difficulties involved in hunting snipe gave rise to the term "sniper", referring to a skilled anti-personnel military sharpshooter.^[2]

Genera

• Coenocorypha
• Lymnocryptes
• Gallinago

See also

• Snipe hunt

Footnotes

1. ^ Thomas, Gavin H.; Wills, Matthew A. & Székely, Tamás (2004): A supertree approach to shorebird phylogeny. BMC Evol. Biol. 4: 28. doi:10.1186/1471-2148-4-28 PDF fulltext Supplementary Material
2. ^ "Online Etymology Dictionary". http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?l=s&p=29. Retrieved 2007-09-27. 

External links

• Snipe videos on the Internet Bird Collection

This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)

Dansk (Danish)
n. - skud fra snigskytte, sneppe, bekkasin, cigaretskod, cigarstump, mundtligt angreb
v. intr. - snigskyde, gå på sneppejagt, skyde snepper

Nederlands (Dutch)
(water)snip, schot van sluipschutter, schieten (sluipschutter), bekritiseren, op snip jagen

Français (French)
n. - (Zool) bécassine, tir en embuscade
v. intr. - (Mil) canarder (l'ennemi), tirer à l'affût ou en embuscade, (fig) critiquer (qn) sournoisement

Deutsch (German)
n. - Schnepfe
v. - aus dem Hinterhalt schießen

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - (ορνιθ.) βαλτομπεκάτσα, μπεκατσίνι
v. - βάλλω από θέση ενέδρας, βάλλω ύπουλα εναντίον, κυνηγώ βαλτομπεκάτσες

Italiano (Italian)
beccaccia

Português (Portuguese)
n. - disparo contra o inimigo de lugar escondido e à distancia (m), ponta de charuto ou cigarro (f)
v. - atirar no inimigo

Русский (Russian)
бекас, ничтожество, швербот, крючкотвор, снайперский выстрел, охотиться на бекасов, стащить, вести снайперский огонь, вести огонь из укрытия, язвить

Español (Spanish)
n. - becada, chocha, agachadiza, rayuelo
v. intr. - tirar a las agachadizas, tirar desde un sitio oculto

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - beckasin, snäppa, skott från bakhåll, snipa (båt)
v. - jaga beckasin, skjuta från bakhåll, knäppa

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
鹬, 香烟屁股, 足以轻蔑的人物, 狙击, 打冷枪, 诽谤, 中伤, 猎鹬

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 鷸, 香煙屁股, 足以輕蔑的人物
v. intr. - 狙擊, 打冷槍, 誹謗, 中傷, 獵鷸

한국어 (Korean)
n. - 도요새, 담배 꽁초, 저격
v. intr. - 도요새잡이를 하다, (숨어서) 저격하다, 훔치다

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - シギ
v. - 狙撃する, シギ猟をする

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) ألجهلول " طائر طويل ألمنقار ", شخص حقير (فعل) يصطاد ألشنقب, يتصيد جنود ألعدو‏

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮חרטומן (עוף ביצה), חרטומנים‬
v. intr. - ‮צלף, פגע ממארב‬

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