sneaker

/'sni:kə/
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sneaker

A child ties the laces of a new sneaker before going outside.

Definition

Noun: 1. A person who acts in a stealthy, furtive, or underhanded manner; an informer or decoy: This meaning is now rare and primarily historical. It refers to someone who moves or acts secretly, often for deceptive purposes. 2. A type of casual, comfortable shoe with a flexible rubber sole and a canvas, leather, or synthetic upper; an athletic shoe: This is the dominant modern meaning. Sneakers are designed for sports or casual wear and are characterized by their quiet, non-marking soles.

Usage and Examples
  • Noun (Person):
    • The gang suspected a sneaker in their midst was leaking information to the authorities. (This usage is archaic.)
  • Noun (Shoe):
    • She laced up her favorite sneakers before going for a run.
    • For casual Fridays, many people wear sneakers to the office.
Advanced Usage
  • "Sneaker culture": Refers to the community and commercial activity surrounding the collection, trading, and appreciation of athletic shoes, often limited editions.
    • He's deeply involved in sneaker culture and owns dozens of rare pairs.
  • "Sneakerhead": (A compound word listed here as it is a direct derivative) A person who collects, trades, or admires sneakers as a hobby.
    • The convention was filled with sneakerheads looking for the latest releases.
Variants and Related Words
  • Sneak (verb): To move or act in a stealthy, secretive way.
    • He tried to sneak into the movie theater without a ticket.
  • Sneaky (adjective): Behaving in a secret and sometimes dishonest or unpleasant way.
    • That was a sneaky trick you played on me.
  • Sneakers (plural noun): The standard form when referring to the shoes.
    • I need to buy new sneakers.
Synonyms
  • For the shoe: Athletic shoe, trainer (common in British English), tennis shoe, gym shoe, runner.
  • For the person (archaic): Informant, informer, decoy, stool pigeon.
Related Phrases and Idioms
  • "On sneakers": (Informal) Wearing sneakers.
    • The entire team was on sneakers for the charity walk.
  • "Sneaker net": (Informal, computing) A humorous term for transferring electronic data by physically carrying a storage device (like a USB drive) from one computer to another, as opposed to using a network.
    • The network was down, so we had to use sneaker net to share the large files.
sneaker

A child ties the laces of a new sneaker before going outside.

Noun
  1. someone acting as an informer or decoy for the police
  2. a canvas shoe with a pliable rubber sole