Snitch

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Grammarist

Snitch is a word that dates back to the 1700s. We will examine the meaning of the word snitch, some clues as to where it came from and some examples of its use in sentences.

A snitch is an informer, someone who gives information to the police or other authority. Snitch is used as a noun or verb, related words are snitches, snitched, snitching. The word snitch may also be used to mean to steal something. The exact origin of the term snitch is unknown, but it seems to be linked with the nose. In the early 1700s snitch meant to flick the nose. In time, snitch became simply a synonym for the word nose. By the 1780s the word snitch was being used to mean a spy for the king or an informer for the king. Today, snitch may refer to an informer as innocuous as someone who tattles to the teacher, or it may refer to someone who has witnessed a serious crime and informs the police.

Examples

Williams was convicted in that case of shooting his friend and fellow alleged gang member Larry Eugene North because Williams believed North had turned police “snitch” in the investigation of Dobson’s death. (The Knoxville News Sentinel)

Prosecution teams here secretly operated unconstitutional scams with jail snitches to win convictions, hid exculpatory evidence from defendants and juries, and, when necessary, committed perjury in hopes of masking the cheating. (The Orange County Weekly)

For a guy who escaped an assassination attempt while married to a future “Real Housewives of Miami” television star and who once snitched on a notorious drug kingpin, Pedro Rosello’s arrest proved pretty low key. (The Miami Herald)