Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
Definition: Snorkel |
SnorkelNoun1. Breathing device consisting of a bent tube fitting into a swimmer's mouth and extending above the surface; allows swimmer to breathe while face down in the water. 2. Air passage provided by a retractable device containing intake and exhaust pipes; permits a submarine to stay submerged for extended periods of time. Verb1. Dive with a snorkel. Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. |
| Domain | Definition |
Sports & Leisure | Tube. . . through which a person may breathe while swimming face down in the water. . . by inserting one end in the mouth and letting the other end project above the surface. Also called, Brit. , snort. Source: European Union. (references) |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
A snorkel is a tube about a third of a meter (one foot) long, usually J-shaped, fitted with a reasonably comfortable mouthpiece, and constructed of rubber or plastic, used for remaining submerged while diving in shallow waters.Some snorkels have float-operated valves attached to the end away from the user's mouth to keep water out when the swimmer submerges. Most, however, are allowed to flood, and the water expelled by a sharp exhalation through the snorkel when the swimmer returns to the surface.
- See also: Scuba, snorkeling
A snorkel (also spelled "schnorkel" and "schnorchel") is also a device that allows a submarine to operate submerged while still taking in air from above the surface. It was invented by the Dutch just before World War II and perfected by the Germans during the war for use by U-boats.
Until the advent of nuclear power, submarines were designed to operate on the surface most of the time and submerge only for evasion or for rare daylight attacks. In 1940 at night a U-boat was safer on the surface than submerged, because ASDIC could detect boats underwater but was useless against a surface vessel. However, with the continued improvement in methods of detection and attack as the war progressed, the U-boat was forced to spend more and more time underwater, running on electric motors which gave speeds of only a few knots and had very limited endurance.
The 1940 defeat of the Netherlands by the Wehrmacht was a stroke of luck for the Kriegsmarine. The Dutch had been working on a device that the German called somewhat rudely the "Schnorchel". The Dutch navy had been experimenting as early as 1938 with a simple pipe system on the submarines O-19 and O-20, which enabled them to operate at periscope depth to operate its diesels and thus have almost unlimited underwater range.
The Kriegsmarine at first gave some consideration to the snorkel as a means to take fresh air into the boats but saw no need to run the diesel engines underwater. In 1943, however, as more U-boats were lost, it was retrofitted to the VIIC and IXC classes and designed into the new XXI and XXIII types.
The first boat to be fitted with a snorkel was U-58 which experimented with the equipment in the Baltic during the summer of 1943. Boats began to use it operationally in early 1944 and by June 1944 about half of the boats stationed in the French bases had snorkels fitted.
On Type VII boats the snorkel folded forward and was stored in a recess on the port side of the hull while on the IX Types the recess was on the starboard side. The XXI and XXIII types both had telescopic masts that rose vertically through the conning tower close to the periscope.
Snorkels created several problems for their users. A U-boat with a snorkel raised was limited to six knots to avoid breaking the tube, and its sound detection gear was deafened by the roaring of the air being sucked down the tube. A submarine that stayed underwater for more than a few hours encountered various disposal problems, and had to store garbage internally, further fouling boats already infamous for their odors. Most dramatically, snorkels were equipped with automatic valves to prevent seawater from being sucked into the diesels, but when these valves slammed shut, the engines would draw air from the boat itself before shutting down, which was extremely painful to the ears of the crew and sometimes even ruptured eardrums. (This last problem still exists in modern submarines, though their larger internal volumes of air mitigates the pain somewhat.)
Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Snorkel."
Synonyms: SnorkelSynonyms: breather (n), schnorchel (n), schnorkel (n), snorkel breather (n). (additional references) |
| Synonym by domain: schnorkel (sports & leisure). |
Crosswords: Snorkel |
| English words defined with "snorkel": aquanaut ♦ skin-diver, snorkel diving, snorkeling. (references) |
| Specialty definitions using "snorkel": snorkelling. (references) |
| Non-English Usage: "Snorkel" is also a word in the following languages with English translations in parentheses. Czech (snorkel), Serbo-Croatian (snorkel), Swedish (snorkel). |
| Domain | Usage | |
Screenplays | I'd sooner puke my intestines and snorkel in them than see you naked (Ally McBeal; writing credit: Henri Vernes) | |
Movie/TV Titles | The Snorkel (1958) | |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | ||
| Domain | Title |
Books | |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| Thumbnail | Description & Credit |  | Underway in May 1952, shortly after her "fleet snorkel" conversion. She is still fitted with a 5"/25 deck gun, aft of her "sail". Credit: NAVY. |
Source: pictures compiled by the editor from various references; see picture credits. | |||
| "Snorkel" is generally used as a noun (singular) -- approximately 73.68% of the time. "Snorkel" is used about 19 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted) |
| Parts of Speech | Percent | Usage per 100 Million Words | Rank in English |
| Noun (singular) | 73.68% | 14 | 93,893 |
| Lexical Verb (infinitive) | 26.32% | 5 | 157,705 |
| Total | 100.00% | 19 | N/A |
Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.
Expressions using "snorkel": snorkel breather ♦ snorkel diving ♦ snorkel mask. Additional references. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. |
| The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com. |
| Expression | Frequency per Day | Expression | Frequency per Day |
snorkel | 3,407 | pool snorkel | 12 |
snorkel gear | 225 | snorkel key west | 11 |
snorkel equipment | 158 | pussy snorkel | 11 |
snorkel hawaii | 105 | dive snorkel | 11 |
snorkel vest | 50 | snorkel kit | 11 |
snorkel mask | 44 | kid snorkel | 10 |
snorkel bob | 31 | snorkel hot tub | 10 |
snorkel lift | 29 | snorkel stove | 10 |
snorkel set | 28 | arb snorkel | 10 |
snorkel maui | 26 | tour with snorkel | 10 |
safari snorkel | 24 | cozumel snorkel | 10 |
snorkel fins | 23 | snorkel kauai | 9 |
dry snorkel | 18 | prescription mask snorkel | 9 |
jeep snorkel | 18 | snorkel molokini | 8 |
atv snorkel | 18 | snorkel and vacation | 8 |
atv kit snorkel | 17 | cancun snorkel | 8 |
florida snorkel | 13 | girl snorkel | 8 |
kauai snorkel tour | 12 | oahu snorkel | 8 |
snorkel bag | 12 | snorkel key largo | 8 |
scuba snorkel | 12 | snorkel woman | 8 |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Language | Translations for "snorkel"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses. | |
Albanian | periskop (periscope), gërhitje (sniff, snore, wheeze). (various references) | |
Arabic | سبح بأنبوبة التنفس, أنبوبة التنفس للغطس, شنركل. (various references) | |
Bulgarian | шнорхел (schnorkel, snort). (various references) | |
Chinese | 废"管. (various references) | |
Czech | snorkel, dýchací trubice, šnorchl. (various references) | |
Farsi | لوله مخصوص تنفس درزیراب , لوله دخول وخروج هوادرزیردریاءی , بالوله تنفس زیرابی رفتن . (various references) | |
French | schnorchel, tube respiratoire, tuba, nager avec un tube respiratoire. (various references) | |
German | schnorcheln, schnorchel (schnorkel). (various references) | |
Greek | αναπνευστήρασ υποβρύχιου, αναπνευστήρασ δύτου. (various references) | |
Hebrew | ש ורקל. (various references) | |
Hungarian | búvárpipa. (various references) | |
Italian | respiratore subacqueo, presa d'aria (vent), boccaglio (mouthpiece, nozzle). (various references) | |
Japanese Kanji | スナック麺 (circlip, snack noodle, snake, snake dance, snakeskin, snap, snap ring, snapshot, snatch, sneak in, sneak out, sneak preview, sneaker, snob, snobbism, snooker, snoopy, snow, snow boat, snow gun, snow mobile, snow surfing, snow tire, spark, spark plug, sparkling wine, sparring, sparring partner, spatula, sperm bank, spice, spider, spike, spike heel, spiked shoes, spiker, spiky cut, spiral, spurt, spy, studded snow tire), シュタイナー学 (a shop, chauvinism, chemise, chocolate, Chopin, crying, displaywindow, line drive to the shortstop, liquor, mall, Schiller, Schmidt camera, Schottky diode, serial, serial printer, serialize, series, serious, serious drama, shawl, shock, shock absorber, shock theory, shocker, shocking, shockwave, shop in shop, shopping, shopping bag, shopping bag lady, shopping cart, shopping centre, shopping mall, shoran, shordarvision, shore radar television, short, short bound, short circuit, short cut, short hair, short hole, short iron, short order, short pants, short relief, short short, short skirt, short stay, short story, short time, shortcake, short-circuit appeal, shortening, short-range navigation aid, shorts, short-scale, shortstop, shot, shotgun, shotgun bride, shotgun marriage, shotgun wedding, shoulder, shoulder bag, shoulder pad, shovel, show, show biz, show business, show girl, showboat, showcase, showman, showmanship, showroom, shredder, shrimp, Shroedinger, sleeping bag, sound like a steam engine, Steiner school, stem turn in skiing, Sturm und Drang, syllable, Syria, temporary care, trace, weeping). (various references) | |
Japanese Katakana | スノーケル , シュノーケル . (various references) | |
Korean | 스노클. (various references) | |
Pig Latin | orkelsnay.(various references) | |
Portuguese | tubo respiratório para mergulho. (various references) | |
Russian | трубка (tobacco pipe, tube), шноркель, нырять с трубкой/ шноркель. (various references) | |
Serbo-Croatian | snorkel. (various references) | |
Spanish | tubo esnórquel, tubo de respiración (schnorkel), nadar respirando por un tubo, esnórquel (schnorkel). (various references) | |
Swedish | snorkel. (various references) | |
Turkish | şnorkelle yüzmek, şnorkel (schnorkel). (various references) | |
Ukrainian | трубка акваланга, шноркель (schnorkel), дихальна трубка (schnorkel). (various references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various translation references. | ||
Derivations | |
Words beginning with "snorkel": snorkeled, snorkeler, snorkelers, snorkeling, snorkels. (additional references) | |
| |
"Snorkel" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: Shorwell, snork, snorkle. (additional references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |
Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams | |
| Words within the letters "e-k-l-n-o-r-s" | |
-1 letter: enrols, kelson, loners, nerols. | |
-2 letters: enols, enrol, kenos, kerns, koels, krone, lenos, loner, lores, loser, nerol, noels, orles, roles, senor, snore, sorel. | |
-3 letters: elks, enol, eons, erns, eros, keno, kens, kern, koel, kore, kors, leks, leno, lens, lone, lore, lorn, lose, noel, noes, nose, okes, oles, ones, ores, orle, roes, role, rose, sloe. | |
| Words containing the letters "e-k-l-n-o-r-s" | |
+1 letter: knollers, snorkels. | |
+2 letters: onlookers, schnorkel, snorkeled, snorkeler. | |
+3 letters: cornflakes, folksinger, interlocks, lakefronts, schnorkels, snorkelers, snorkeling, triskelion. | |
+4 letters: bankrollers, folksingers, herrenvolks, needleworks, schnorkeled, triskelions, unworkables. | |
+5 letters: cinderblocks, cupronickels, leukotrienes, schnorkeling, skeletonizer, workableness, worklessness, zooplankters. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro. | |
| 1. Definition 2. Synonyms 3. Crosswords 4. Usage: Modern | 5. Usage: Commercial 6. Images: Slideshow 7. Images: Photo Album 8. Usage Frequency | 9. Expressions 10. Expressions: Internet 11. Translations: Modern 12. Derivations | 13. Anagrams 14. Bibliography |
Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
