sniggle

present singular third person sniggles · participle present sniggling · participle past sniggled · past sniggled

1. intransitiveTo 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

present singular third person sniggles · participle present sniggling · participle past sniggled · past sniggled

1. intransitiveTo 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

2. transitiveTo catch by this means.
3. figurativelytransitiveTo ensnare.

present singular third person sniggles · participle present sniggling · participle past sniggled · past sniggled

1. obsoleteTo steal something of little value.

   Synonyms: steal, abduct, abstract, appropriate, bag, bandit, bash and grab, bone