snivel

<font size="-1" face="arial, helvetica"> <p> <strong> <font color="#000066">Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for November 16, 2020 is:</font> </strong> </p> <p> <strong>snivel</strong> &#149; \SNIV-ul\&nbsp; &#149; <em>verb</em><br /> <p><strong>1 :</strong> to run at the nose</p> <p><strong>2 :</strong> to snuff mucus up the nose audibly <strong>:</strong> <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/snuffle">snuffle</a></p> <p><strong>3 :</strong> to cry or whine with snuffling</p> <p><strong>4 :</strong> to speak or act in a whining, sniffling, tearful, or weakly emotional manner</p> </p> <p> <strong>Examples:</strong><br /> <p>"Leonard … really wanted to meet the Microsoft co-founder.… It didn't go so great, as Leonard lost his cool and <em>sniveled</em> all over Gates' tie." — <a href="https://www.geekwire.com/2018/bill-gates-leaves-em-laughing-crying-guest-appearance-big-bang-theory/">Kurt Schlosser, <em>GeekWire</em>, 29 Mar. 2018</a></p> <p>"'It says single women aged 45 and older are <em>barely visible</em> and at <em>the bottom of the food chain</em> for dating and relationships,' I <em>sniveled</em> into the phone to a close friend, reading aloud from the blog I had found." — <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/feb/20/plankton-older-women-bottom-of-sexual-food-chain">Jennifer Byrne, <em>The Guardian</em>, 20 Feb. 2020</a></p> </p> <p> <strong>Did you know?</strong><br /> <p>There's never been anything pretty about sniveling. <em><a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/snivel">Snivel</a></em>, which originally meant simply "to have a runny nose," was probably <em>snyflan</em> in Old English. It's likely related to <em><a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sniffle">sniffle</a></em>, not surprisingly, and also to an Old English word for mucus, <em>snofl.</em> It's even related to the Middle Dutch word for a cold, <em>snof</em>, and the Old Norse word for "snout," which is <em>snoppa</em>. There