Dictionary

sneezer en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /ˈsniːzə/ (Received-Pronunciation)
• /ˈsnizɚ/ (General-American)
• (Australia) audio

Etymology

From sneeze + -er.

Meanings

1. Someone who sneezes.
   • In New York and Chicago, laws were passed making it illegal to sneeze or cough in public without using a handkerchief. Police dutifully hauled sneezers and coughers to court, where they were given stiff fines. 2002, Joy Hakim, War, Peace, and All that Jazz, page 22:
   • Hay feverites will be interested to know that Sydney Smith was also a sneezer. 1884, Journal of Materia Medica, volume 23, page 58:
2. (slang) A person's nose.
   • He punched me right in the sneezer!
3. (US, dated, slang) Prison.
   • ‘No cure for lads like you, is there?’ he said. ‘Except to throw you in the sneezer.’ 1940, Raymond Chandler, Farewell, My Lovely, Penguin, published 2010, page 200:
4. (UK, obsolete, slang) A snuffbox.
   • He has been lagged for beaker hunting, was a mushroom faker, has been on the steel for snamming a wedge sneezer; […] 1859, Snowden's Magistrates Assistant, page 497:
5. (UK, obsolete, slang) A handkerchief.
   • Some person has deprived me of my East Indian silk handkerchief. — What, have you lost your sneezer? 1835, Charles Mathews, Mathews's New Budget of Fun, etc, page 156:

Forms