Meanings
plural snorkels
- divingA hollow tube, held in the mouth, or mounted on and opening into a diving mask, used by swimmers for breathing underwater.
They wore snorkels while exploring the coral reef.
1 more example
She used a snorkel to breathe while swimming underwater.
- A retractable tube fitted in diesel-engine submarines to allow sufficient ventilation that the engines may be used at periscope depth.
Synonyms: snort
present singular third person snorkels · US participle present snorkeling · UK participle present snorkelling · US participle past snorkeled · US past snorkeled · UK participle past snorkelled · UK past snorkelled
- To use a snorkel.
We spent the afternoon snorkeling in the clear blue waters.
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA retractable tube fitted in diesel-engine submarines to allow sufficient ventilation that the engines may be used at periscope depth.
More synonyms by meaning
nounair passage provided by a retractable device containing intake and exhaust pipes; permits a submarine to stay submerged for extended periods of time
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- GermanSchnorchel“(submarine) snorkel”
- Englishsnorkel
Borrowed from German Schnorchel (“(submarine) snorkel”), related to schnarchen (“to snore”). Thus named because of the submarine snorkel's functional similarity to a nose and because of its noise when in use. The anglicized spelling was first recorded in 1945. See, for example, Mark S. Watson, "New Epoch in Sea War", The Baltimore Sun, December 31, 1945, p. 8: "The Germans' earlier quest of the last important objective, it will be remembered, had produced the Snorkel, a long exhaust tube whose vent reached above water and permitted a submerged vessel to discharge its Diesel fumes in open air."
More words from German
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Bulgarian шнорхел
- шнорхел (šnorhel)hollow tube used for breathing underwater
Chinese Mandarin 呼吸管
- 呼吸管 (hūxīguǎn)hollow tube used for breathing underwater
Danish snorkel, snorkle
- snorkelhollow tube used for breathing underwater
- snorkleuse a snorkel
Dutch snorkelen
- snorkelenuse a snorkel
Esperanto spirtubo, ŝnorkelo
- spirtubohollow tube used for breathing underwater
- ŝnorkelohollow tube used for breathing underwater
Finnish snorkkeli, snorklata
- snorkkelihollow tube used for breathing underwater
- snorklatause a snorkel
French tuba, prise d'air
- tubahollow tube used for breathing underwater
- prise d'airhollow tube used for breathing underwater
German Schnorchel, schnorcheln
- Schnorchelhollow tube used for breathing underwater
- schnorchelnuse a snorkel
Hebrew שְׁנוֹרְקֶל
- שְׁנוֹרְקֶל (shnórkel)hollow tube used for breathing underwater
Hungarian búvárpipa, légzőpipa
- búvárpipahollow tube used for breathing underwater
- légzőpipahollow tube used for breathing underwater
- légzőcsőhollow tube used for breathing underwater
- pipahollow tube used for breathing underwater
- sznorkelezikuse a snorkel
- sznorizikuse a snorkel
- úszikuse a snorkel
- könnyűbúvárkodikuse a snorkel
Icelandic snorkla
- snorklause a snorkel
Indonesian snorkel
- snorkelhollow tube used for breathing underwater
Italian boccaglio
- boccagliohollow tube used for breathing underwater
Japanese シュノーケル, スノーケル
- シュノーケル (shunōkeru)hollow tube used for breathing underwater
- スノーケル (sunōkeru)hollow tube used for breathing underwater
Korean 스노클
- 스노클 (seunokeul)hollow tube used for breathing underwater
Māori ngongohā
- ngongohāhollow tube used for breathing underwater
Norwegian Bokmål snorkel, snorkle
- snorkelhollow tube used for breathing underwater
- snorkleuse a snorkel
Polish fajka, rurka
- fajkahollow tube used for breathing underwater
- rurkahollow tube used for breathing underwater
Portuguese snorkel
- snorkelhollow tube used for breathing underwater
Russian тру́бка, дыха́тельная тру́бка
- тру́бка (trúbka)hollow tube used for breathing underwater
- дыха́тельная тру́бка (dyxátelʹnaja trúbka)hollow tube used for breathing underwater
Spanish tubo de buceo, snorkel
- tubo de buceohollow tube used for breathing underwater
- snorkelhollow tube used for breathing underwater
- esnórkelhollow tube used for breathing underwater
- esnórquelhollow tube used for breathing underwater
- snorkelearuse a snorkel
- esnorkelearuse a snorkel
Swedish snorkel, snorkla
- snorkelhollow tube used for breathing underwater
- snorklause a snorkel
Turkish şnorkel, şnorkelle yüzmek
- şnorkelhollow tube used for breathing underwater
- şnorkelle yüzmekuse a snorkel
- şnorkelle dalmakuse a snorkel
Ukrainian тру́бка
- тру́бка (trúbka)hollow tube used for breathing underwater
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with snorkel
All rhymes →Cite this entry
snorkel. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/snorkel
“snorkel.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/snorkel. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “snorkel,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/snorkel.
Source: snorkel on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.