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What word is there in English for sucking with your nose? There are people who do not sneeze but instead have a bad habit of sucking with their nose snot in again. However, the English dictionary definition for sucking refers to the mouth.

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    Best post title of the week, in any case: +1.
    – Drew
    Commented Feb 14, 2014 at 3:43

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Not to steal your thunder joseph_morris, but while the act is a sniffle as a verb it would be to sniff or snort.

Edit-To expound slightly more, I found this page for UK English slang, but it has a pretty expansive breakdown of snuffling.

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    I rather like the onomatapoeic snork. Snort is generally outwards; snork is exactly the sound of a snotty sniff.
    – Andrew Leach ♦
    Commented Feb 13, 2014 at 19:26
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    I hate to burst your bubble, Abernasty, but "sniffle" is also an intransitive verb. merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sniffle?show=0&t=1392319825
    – Louel
    Commented Feb 13, 2014 at 19:31
  • @Andrew: Agreed. Snorking is in through the nose, contrasting with hawking, which is out through the throat / mouth.
    – FumbleFingers
    Commented Feb 13, 2014 at 19:32
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    @Louel Ah, so it is. I guess I would say that anecdotally at least, I'm used to sniffle being used as a noun and sniff the verb, though they can both swap those parts of speech.
    – Abernasty
    Commented Feb 13, 2014 at 19:33
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    Since you're answering with reference to UK slang, maybe things are different on that side of the pond. But in the US "to sniff" is usually inhaling air audibly; "to snort" is to make a pig-like sound while inhaling (or to inhale drugs, esp. cocaine); and "to sniffle" involves inhaling snot. The question was about snot. So, I still say sniffle.
    – joseph_morris
    Commented Feb 13, 2014 at 23:30
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The word you're looking for is "sniffle."

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Or try the word "snuffle": : to snuff especially audibly and repeatedly

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/snuffle

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  • Doesn't snuffing require the use of snuff?
    – user867
    Commented Feb 14, 2014 at 0:32
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Possibly: Insufflate

Insufflation (Latin insufflatio "blowing on" or "into") is the practice of inhaling a substance.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Insufflation_(medicine)

http://www.merriam-webster.com/medical/insufflation

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Oxford Dictionaries gives as the meaning of 'sniff': 'draw up air audibly through the nose to detect a smell, to stop it running, or to express contempt'.

There is also a verb 'sniffle'meaning: 'sniff slightly or repeatedly, typically because of a cold or fit of crying'.

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  • I am not aware of it happening in humans, but dogs will occasionally "sneeze backward."
    – Michael Owen Sartin
    Commented Feb 13, 2014 at 21:50

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