snorkel

Meaning

Noun

1. A hollow tube, held in the mouth, or mounted on and opening into a diving mask, used by swimmers for breathing underwater.
2. A retractable tube fitted in diesel-engine submarines to allow sufficient ventilation that the engines may be used at periscope depth.
3. A snorkel parka.

Verb

To use a snorkel.

Synonyms

schnorkel

schnorchel

snorkel breather

breather

respirator

snort

vent tube

air drain

soil vent

stack vent

waste vent

ventilator tube

aeration pipe

burn-out pipe

breather-tube

flowing-through pipe

vent vapour pipe

breather-pipe

aerator

respiratory protection apparatus

ventiduct

vent pipe

breather pipe

air box

breathing mask

Translations

schnorchel

Schnorchel

tuba

respiratore

schnorcheln

boccaglio

tubo respirador

şnorkel

αναπνευστήρας υποβρύχιου

respirateur

αναπνευστήρας δύτου

masque sous-marin

schnorkel

appareil de protection respiratoire

αναπνευστήρας

Etymology

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."