Sniggler

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Someone who catches eels by probing into mud or holes with bare hands or a tool ; a person who laughs in a sly or mocking manner
2. A person engaged in hand-catching eels from water or soft ground ; someone who smirks or chuckles in a contemptuous way
3. One who fishes for eels by feeling around in their hiding places ; an individual who giggles or laughs with a sneering or disrespectful tone

Etymology: "Sniggle" is a verb meaning to fish for eels or other fish by dangling a baited hook or noose in the water, or by feeling for them under stones and banks. "Sniggler" is simply that verb with the agent suffix "-er" added, so it names the person who does the sniggling. The suffix has a long ancestry. The "-er" ending in English descends from Old English "-ere," which itself came from the Proto-Germanic "-ārijaz," a form of the Latin "-ārius" (meaning "belonging to" or "one connected with"). The Latin ending passed into Old French as "-ier," which Middle English then took up as "-er." English speakers have been attaching this same ending to native verbs for centuries, which is why it appears on so many common nouns such as "baker" and "driver."

Synonyms: eel fisher