A snarl is a facial expression, where the upper lip is raised, and the nostrils widen, generally indicating hate, anger or pain. In addition to humans, other mammals including monkeys and dogs snarl, often to warn others of their potential bite. In humans, snarling uses the levator labii superioris alaeque nasi muscle. Snarling is often accompanied by or used synonymously with threatening vocalizations.
The word "snarl" may also be used as an onomatopoeia for a threatening noise, as in the 'snarl' of a chainsaw. This usage may derive from misunderstanding the common expression describing a dog as "growling and snarling". One undeniable literary use of "snarl" to mean a noise is in The Lord of the Rings in the encounter with the barrow-wight: "In the dark there was a snarling noise".
Famous quotes containing the word snarl:
“In those rare days, the press was seldom known to snarl or bark,
But sweetly sang of men in pow’r, like any tuneful lark;
Grave judges, too, to all their evil deeds were in the dark;
And not a man in twenty score knew how to make his mark.
Oh the fine old English Tory times;”
—Charles Dickens (1812–1890)