Dictionary — ontologydriven

sniggle en · VERB · etymology 1

From an alteration (perhaps due to giggle) of snigger, itself a variant of snicker.

(intransitive) To chortle or chuckle; snicker.
- Ay! you see you'll laugh at the bare thought on it — and I'll be bound th' minister, though he's not a laughing man, would ha' sniggled at th' notion of falling in love wi' the child. 1864, Elizabeth Gaskell, Cousin Phillis:

Spelling	Features	Source
sniggles	Number=Sing, Person=3, Tense=Pres	lexicographic
sniggled	Tense=Past, VerbForm=Part	lexicographic
sniggled	Tense=Past	lexicographic
sniggling	Tense=Pres, VerbForm=Part	lexicographic

See snig (“a kind of eel”) + -le (frequentative verbal suffix).

(intransitive) To fish for eels by thrusting a baited needle or hook into their dens.
- But rampant poaching (the correct term for catching a grown-up eel with bait is to “sniggle”, though elvers are caught with something more like a giant sieve) is now prompting authorities to crack down well in advance of next year’s season. [2012 December 1, “Transparent gold”, in The Economist, →ISSN:
(transitive) To catch by this means.
(figuratively, transitive) To ensnare.

Spelling	Features	Source
sniggling	Tense=Pres, VerbForm=Part	lexicographic
sniggles	Number=Sing, Person=3, Tense=Pres	lexicographic
sniggled	Tense=Past, VerbForm=Part	lexicographic
sniggled	Tense=Past	lexicographic

From snig or an alteration of snag + -le.

Spelling	Features	Source
sniggled	Tense=Past, VerbForm=Part	lexicographic
sniggled	Tense=Past	lexicographic
sniggling	Tense=Pres, VerbForm=Part	lexicographic
sniggles	Number=Sing, Person=3, Tense=Pres	lexicographic