snivelsniv‧el /ˈsnɪvəl/ verb (past tense and past participle snivelled, present participle snivelling British English, sniveled, sniveling American English) 
Word Origin Thesaurus
A small boy was sniveling on a chair. a snivelling coward
Word OriginWORD ORIGINsnivel
Verb TableOrigin:
1300-1400 From an unrecorded Old English snyflanVERB TABLE
snivel
| Simple Form | ||
| Present | I, you, we, they | snivel |
| he, she, it | snivels | |
| Past | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | snivelled (BrE), sniveled (AmE) |
| Present perfect | I, you, we, they | have snivelled (BrE), sniveled (AmE) |
| he, she, it | has snivelled (BrE), sniveled (AmE) | |
| Past perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | had snivelled (BrE), sniveled (AmE) |
| Future | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will snivel |
| Future perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will have snivelled (BrE), sniveled (AmE) |
| Continuous Form | ||
| Present | I | am snivelling (BrE), sniveling (AmE) |
| he, she, it | is snivelling (BrE), sniveling (AmE) | |
| you, we, they | are snivelling (BrE), sniveling (AmE) | |
| Past | I, he, she, it | was snivelling (BrE), sniveling (AmE) |
| you, we, they | were snivelling (BrE), sniveling (AmE) | |
| Present perfect | I, you, we, they | have been snivelling (BrE), sniveling (AmE) |
| he, she, it | has been snivelling (BrE), sniveling (AmE) | |
| Past perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | had been snivelling (BrE), sniveling (AmE) |
| Future | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will be snivelling (BrE), sniveling (AmE) |
| Future perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will have been snivelling (BrE), sniveling (AmE) |
Longman Language Activatorto cry► cry
[intransitive usually progressive] to behave or speak in a weak complaining way, especially when you are crying: if you cry , tears come from your eyes, for example because you are sad or upset, or because you have hurt yourself: · I could hear the baby crying in the next room.· Kim's eyes were red and she looked as though she'd been crying.· Don't cry, I didn't mean to upset you.cry about: · Jenny won't tell me what she's crying about.make somebody cry: · The film was so sad, it made me cry.cry and cry (=cry for a long time): · I sat alone in my room and cried and cried.cry your eyes out (=cry a lot because you are very upset): · The poor kid's so miserable, he's upstairs crying his eyes out.cry with happiness/joy/relief etc: · She cried with joy when she heard that the children were safe.cry yourself to sleep (=cry until you fall asleep): · At night I'd cry myself to sleep, thinking about you.
► weep especially written to cry quietly and for a long time because you are very sad or you feel a strong emotion: · She sat beside her dying father and wept.weep openly (=without trying to stop or hide it): · Thousands of French citizens, many weeping openly, bade a silent farewell to Mitterand.weep with emotion/grief/joy etc: · I remember weeping with pride when my first son was born.weep bitterly (=cry strongly): · His mother wept bitterly and his father sat grim-faced.
► sob if you sob , you cry noisily and your body shakes, because you are very sad or because someone has upset you: · The sound of her sobbing kept them awake all night.· "Please don't leave me," he sobbed.· The child covered her face with her hands and started to sob uncontrollably.
► bawl to cry loudly - use this especially about young children or people you do not have any sympathy for: · "Stop, bawling," Dad said crossly, "and come over here."· The baby was sitting in his high chair, red in the face and bawling.
► snivel/sniffle to cry in a weak, complaining way and at the same time breathe in air noisily through your nose: · "What are you snivelling about, Jake?'· She kept sniffling into her handkerchief and saying how unfair everything was.
► whimper to make a quiet, continuous, unhappy sound like an animal in pain, or to say something with this sound in your voice: · 'I'm sorry,' she whimpered, but Richard wasn't listening.whimper with: · Pat whimpered with the pain of the bullet wound in his shoulder.
► be in tears crying because someone has upset you, or because something is very sad: · Everyone started to laugh and Frank ran out of the room in tears.· Most of us were in tears by the time he'd finished his story.
► your eyes water if your eyes water , you have tears in your eyes, usually because of something such as wind or smoke going into them: · Jo's eyes were watering from the smoke that filled the room.make your eyes water: · An icy wind blew into my face, making my eyes water.
► tears drops of water that come from your eyes when you are crying - this is often used to represent the idea of crying: · Grandpa wiped the tears from his eyes.have tears in your eyes/with tears in your eyes (=be nearly crying): · Yusuf had tears in his eyes, and I knew he was thinking of home.· She turned to me with tears in her eyes and begged me to help her.tears roll/run down somebody's cheeks (=someone cries a lot): · He stood silently, tears rolling down his cheeks, while the music played.· Mum showed us the letter with tears running down her cheeks.be close to tears (=almost crying): · Howell was close to tears as he told the court what had happened.·
A small boy was sniveling on a chair. a snivelling coward