snoot

Etymology

From Scots snoot, snout (“snout”), from Middle English snowte, from Middle Dutch snute; ultimately from Proto-West Germanic *snūt, from Proto-Germanic *snūtaz. Doublet of snout.

noun

1. (informal) An elitist individual; one who looks down upon lower social classes.
   The sidecars— sneer if you will, you purists and gastronomic snoots— at Perino's in Wilshire in Los Angeles. 1943, Lucius Morris Beebe, Snoot if You Must, D. Appleton-Century Company, Incorporated, page 44
   In defense of low-grade teas, I must say they are very cheap, and I have a large box in my cupboard right next to the higher quality, more snoot-worthy varieties. 29 October 2013, Moosewood Collective, Sundays at Moosewood Restaurant: Ethnic and Regional Recipes from the Cooks at the Legendary Restaurant, Simon & Schuster, page 96
   “Do you know any of Larry's other partners?” “Some.” “Do you know Mary Lou Goddard?” “Oh, that snoot.” “Snoot?” “Yes, Larry told me about her. He went out with her a couple of times and then she got possessive.” 31 January 2014, Robert B Parker, Perish Twice, Oldcastle Books, page 73
2. A language pedant or snob; one who practices linguistic elitism.
3. (dialectal or slang) A nose or snout, especially in derogatory use.
   And then he did something which must be unprecedented in jurisprudence. He leaped from his chair, ran over to the old man, and shaking his fist under his nose, roared: 'Listen, you! If you keep on with this stuff, I'll punch you one in the snoot! 31 February 2013 [1966], Friedrich Reck, translated by Paul Rubens, Diary of a Man in Despair, New York Review of Books, page 173
4. (Internet slang, childish, humorous) Snout; especially of a dog ("doggo"), cat ("catto"), or snake ("snek").
5. (theater, photography) A cylindrical or conical attachment used on a spotlight to restrict spill light.
   Snoots have traditionally been round in shape when attached to studio strobes, but with flash photography, they have taken on a more rectangular shape because the flash heads are rectangular. 26 December 2014, Alyn Stafford, Flash Techniques for Location Portraiture: Single and Multiple-Flash Lighting Techniques, Amherst Media, page 36

verb

1. To behave disdainfully toward someone.
2. (transitive, theater, photography) To apply a snoot attachment to (a light).
   Which might mean shaping it, gelling it, snooting it, barn dooring it, and putting it on a stand or a clamp. Maybe taking the dome diffuser off. Perhaps zooming it. Oh my. And you thought you were just taking a picture. 2011, Joe McNally, Sketching Light