snootful of
- idiom
- Slang
:
gran cantidad de
- Can you smell that snootful of roses?
- got a snootful
Examples
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The dog stuck its nose in the bag and got a snootful of treats.
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After opening the spice jar, she got a snootful of cinnamon.
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He leaned over the grill and received a snootful of smoke.
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He took a snootful of fresh coffee this morning.
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As I walked through the bakery, I caught a snootful of freshly baked bread that made my mouth water.
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At the bar, he took a snootful of whiskey, feeling the warmth spread through him.
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Hiking through the pine forest, I enjoyed a snootful of the crisp, clean scent of nature.
How Much
Surface Forms
Morphology
snootful + of
The construction is directly compositional: 'snootful' denotes an amount (here slangily a large or nose-related quantity) and 'of' links that amount to the thing measured, so a learner who knows the constituent meanings can infer 'a large quantity of X' or 'a strong inhaled smell/amount of alcohol.' Although 'snootful' is low-frequency and slangy, its internal structure (snoot + -ful) and the function of 'of' make the overall meaning predictable from the parts.
Etymology
Snootful of comes from snoot, an informal word for the nose, and the idea of being 'full' of a smell or breath. Picture a big sniff that fills your nose with smoke, spice, or strong drink — you have a snootful of it, so the phrase means 'a large amount' or 'a strong smell' felt all at once.