snorkeln.
/ˈsnɔːkəl/ 1.
a. Formerly usually in forms schnorkel, Schnorkel. An airshaft, invented in the Netherlands and developed in Germany, which was fitted to diesel-engined submarines so that air could reach the engines, allowing them to function, and exhaust gases to be expelled, while the vessel was submerged; also a submarine fitted with such an airshaft. Also Schnorkel Spirall.
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society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > equipment of vessel > other equipment of vessel > [noun] > specific equipment on submarine
breathing tube1800
jumping-wire1919
snorkel1944
snort1944
1944 News Chron. 11 Dec. 4/2 They are the new submarines fitted with what the Germans call the Schnorkel Spirall, the purpose of which is to extend under-water endurance.
1945 Engineer 19 Jan. 52/3 We hear that the Germans are fitting their U-boats with what is called the Schnorkel.
1945 Richmond (Va.) News-leader 12 Mar. 13/3 The ‘schnorkel’, or stovepipe breather, and the folding kite are chief among the new German gadgets.
1946 Collier's 11 May 69/2 The other the Germans called the ‘Schnorchel’. That was a pipe or tube of about periscope height, that extended from the ventilating system of the engines to the surface.
1946 Jane's Fighting Ships 1944–5 229/2 The ‘Schnorkel’, or breathing tube,..enabled submarines to remain submerged for much longer periods.
1950 Sat. Evening Post 11 Nov. 79 Chief credit for this went to the snorkel, a device which enables subs to breathe under water. Invented by the Dutch, stolen by the Nazis and perfected by the U.S. Navy, the snorkel has revolutionized naval warfare.
1959 Sunday Times 8 Feb. 13/4 In the spring of 1944 operational U-boats of the older types began to be equipped with the ‘Schnorkel’.
1969 New Scientist 28 Aug. 418/1 The invention of the schnorkel reduced the area exposed during recharging to a single pipe extending a few feet above the surface.
1974 L. Deighton Spy Story xviii. 192 We came up to periscope depth and let a blow of fresh air through the schnorkel.
b. Usually in form snorkel. A short breathing-tube used by underwater swimmers.
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the world > movement > progressive motion > moving with current of air or water > movement in or on water > [noun] > underwater swimming > equipment
armour1721
lifeline1808
shot line1884
plumper line1896
shot rope1909
aqualung1950
scuba1952
snorkel1953
weight belt1955
umbilical pipe1968
society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > water sports except racing > skin-diving > [noun] > equipment
mask1945
aqualung1950
scuba1952
snorkel1953
1953 J. Y. Cousteau Silent World 6 They claimed we drove away fish, damaged nets, looted their seines, and caused mistrals with our schnorkels.
1958 Oxf. Mail 17 Apr. 6/7 The American film television series, Sea Hunt, claims to be boosting the sport of skin-diving. If that is true there is soon going to be a big demand for snorkels and spear-guns in the Midlands.
1962 Underwater Swimming (‘Know the Game’ Ser.) 9/1 By lying on the surface with the face in the water and breathing through the snorkel, the diver can watch the underwater scene continuously.
1968 T.V. World 10 Feb. 18/1 It is only when she sees a swimmer's snorkel in her stepfather's room that Mandy realises how the crime could have been committed.
1977 G. Durrell Golden Bats & Pink Pigeons v. 110 We had only masks and no snorkels, and my mask let in water.
2. Usually in form Snorkel. A proprietary name for a piece of apparatus used in fighting fires in tall buildings, consisting of a platform which may be elevated and extended.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > properties of materials > temperature > coldness > extinguishing fire > [noun] > fire-fighting > a substance or apparatus for extinguishing > apparatus for upper stories of buildings
water tower1879
snorkel1959
1959 Official Gaz. (U.S. Patent Office) 27 Oct. tm140/1 Pitman Manufacturing Company, Grandview, Mo. Filed July 6, 1959. Snorkel. For Aerial Platform Apparatus, Particularly Such Apparatus Adapted for Use in Fire Fighting. First use June 11, 1959.
1960 Amer. City Jan. 83/2 After re-design and further testing of pilot models, the Pitman Aerial Platform, now known as the Snorkel, was offered in July 1958.
1963 R. I. McDavid & D. W. Maurer Mencken's Amer. Lang. (new ed.) 258 Snorkel... The Chicago Fire Department uses it to designate a piece with an elevated pumping platform, for fighting fires in tall buildings.
1969 Trade Marks Jrnl. 26 Nov. 1955/1 Snorkel 940,580. Mobile hydraulically operated rotatable and elevatable platforms for use in fire fighting. Simon Engineering Dudley Limited,..Dudley, Worcestershire; Manufacturers.
1973 Lebende Sprachen 18 69/2 At Newcastle upon Tyne the Chief Fire Officer has installed a closed circuit television camera on an aerial platform known as a snorkel.
1977 Monitor (McAllen, Texas) 28 June 1 a/9 The fire was declared out at 8 a.m. The Edinburg snorkel was used to wet down all parts under the collapsed roof.
3. attributive.
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1944 [see sense 1a].
1945 Illustr. London News 3 Mar. 229/2 The most recent move in this never-ceasing battle was the introduction..of the ‘Schnorkel’ apparatus.
1949 Sun (Baltimore) 2 Apr. 7/2 (caption) First photo of damaged sub... The periscope and snorkel equipment are bent.
1953 J. Y. Cousteau Silent World 1 My wife, Simone, would swim out on the surface with a schnorkel breathing-tube and watch me through her submerged mask.
1954 E. Clark Lady with Spear xix. 187 He..wasn't a strong swimmer, but he wanted to try a face mask and snorkel tube.
1958 Times Lit. Suppl. 9 May 257/4 ‘There is no tactical requirement for such a fitting,’ was the crushing reply to his early suggestion for the designing of a schnorkel apparatus.
1962 F. I. Ordway et al. Basic Astronautics xiii. 510 These devices had snorkel attachments to prevent the entry of water into the systems.
1967 New Scientist 9 Mar. 457/1 Modern conventional submarines can proceed at speed for many days with nothing except their ‘schnorkel’ air-breathing tubes breaking the surface.
1967 O. Wynd Walk Softly xii. 187 The men..might have got out in snorkel-suits and been picked up by a deep-sea fishing fleet.
1973 People's Jrnl. 28 July (Inverness & Northern Counties ed.) 10/3 (caption) Firemen use the 85ft. snorkel escape ladder to rescue a ‘casualty’ from the training tower.
1980 P. Moyes Angel Death iv. 47 They climbed ashore, with their snorkel masks and fins slung in a string shopping-bag.
Derivatives
snorkel v. (also erron. snorkle) intransitive. To use a snorkel; to swim underwater using a snorkel.
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society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > water sports except racing > skin-diving > skin-dive [verb (intransitive)] > using specific equipment
snorkel1959
aqualung1961
scuba1977
scuba-dive1980
1959 Elizabethan June 21/2 But archaeology is really work for trained specialists. You will most likely want to know where to ‘snorkel’ and fish.
1960 F. M. Roberts Basic Scuba ii. 27 Snorkeling through weeds..might pull the mouthpiece from the diver's lips because the crook gets caught.
1968 J. Updike Couples ii. 171 Ken liked to snorkel.
1977 G. Durrell Golden Bats & Pink Pigeons iv. 81 We went snorkling on the reef.
1980 P. Moyes Angel Death viii. 104 Henry and Emma swam and snorkelled and sunbathed.
ˈsnorkeller n.
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the world > movement > progressive motion > moving with current of air or water > movement in or on water > [noun] > underwater swimming > one who
diver1511
urinator1648
skin-diver1892
frogman1945
free-diver1951
aqualunger1952
goggle-diver1953
frogwoman1963
scuba-diver1963
snorkeller1963
saturation diver1966
society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > water sports except racing > skin-diving > [noun] > participant
skin-diver1932
aqualunger1952
goggle-diver1953
scuba-diver1963
snorkeller1963
1963 Harper's Bazaar Jan. 30/2 Many skin divers are content to remain snorkelers, but some want to go deeper and deeper.
1974 Country Life 24 Jan. (Suppl.) 32 Vast golden bays... Each..an adventure for intrepid snorklers.
ˈsnorkelling n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > progressive motion > moving with current of air or water > movement in or on water > [noun] > underwater swimming
urination1697
diving1743–5
skin-diving1905
free-diving1948
scuba1952
aqualunging1953
goggle-diving1953
sub-aqua1957
snorkelling1959
scuba-diving1962
saturation diving1965
saturated diving1967
scubaing1973
society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > water sports except racing > skin-diving > [noun]
skin-diving1905
skin dive1936
free-diving1948
aqualunging1953
goggle-dive1953
sub-aqua1957
snorkelling1959
scuba-diving1962
scubaing1973
scuba1975
1959 New Scientist 26 Mar. 695/2 Pressure variations due to this ‘snorkeling’ might disturb sensitive instrumentation systems. Mark I could snorkel.
1975 D. Marlowe Nightshade x. 116 Water sports, shuffleboard, scuba and snorkling.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1986; most recently modified version published online March 2021).
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n.1944