Green’s Dictionary of Slang

see clout n.¹ (1)

(US) to reprimand, to criticise harshly.

1932

(con. 1910s) J.T. Farrell Young Lonigan in Studs Lonigan (1936) 138: His old man would blow his snoot off, calling him a nogoodfornothing loafer.

to disdain, to ignore, to turn up one’s nose; thus cock-a-snoot adj., disdainful.

1899		Hull Dly Mail 25 Sept. 4/5: I grieve to say that he put his fingers up to his nose, performing the action commonly known as ‘cocking a snook’.
1844		H. Christmas in Pegge Anecdotes of the Eng. Lang. 299: ‘But to his nose he clapped his thumb, / And spread his fingers out.’ This is called by the Cockney, ‘taking a sight’, by the Manchester man, ‘doing snooks’.
1888		Hull Dly Mail 16 Aug. 8/1: The private, from his position of advantage, cocking a snook at his less fortunate non-comissioned officer.
1897		A.H. Lewis Wolfville 48: They quits speakin’, an’ when they meets on the street they concocts snoots at each other.
1905		Sporting Times 6 May 1/2: The lunatic who had been preached at rose solemnly in his place and ‘cocked a snook’ at the bishop.
1918		Tatler (London) 27 Nov. 12/1: You try to pass your wisdom on to the very young, they, metaphorically speaking, cock a snook at you and run away laughing.
1922		Western Dly Press 8 July 11/4: It became ‘the thing’ [...] to ‘cock a snook’ at the French rulers.
c.1935		‘Mae West in “The Hip Flipper”’ [comic strip] in B. Adelman Tijuana Bibles (1997) 91: She hesitated long enough in front of old man Fuzzy-Nuts house to make a couple of snoots at him.
1937		R. Westerby Wide Boys Never Work (1938) 156: Oxford Street just sits square on its behind and cocks a snook with coarse indifference.
1945		(con. 1937) R. Westerby Mad in Pursuit 138: If you don’t turn up I’ll cock a snook and catch the midday train.
1949		H.C. Bosman Cold Stone Jug (1981) II 91: It was a nice feeling. [...] Cocking a snook at the whole prison.
1958		Willans & Searle Complete Molesworth (1985) 349: Porridge Court have cocked snooks at us [...] called us cowardly custardians.
1960		J. Walker No Sunlight Singing (1966) 42: She turned and cocked a snook at the house.
1968		G. Legman Rationale of the Dirty Joke (1972) I 156: Nose-thumbing [...] of Italian origin, it is variously called la fica, the fig; fa’n’gul (dialectal italian for I fuck [you] in the ass); ‘biting the thumb’ (Romeo & Juliet I. i), ‘cocking snooks,’ ‘taking a grinder,’ and, most commonly nowadays, ‘thumbing the nose’.
1979		G. Wolff Duke of Deception (1990) 235: How we loved that, cocking a snoot at Them as we drank ruinously expensive and flat bitter.
1987		(con. 1920s) L. Redmond Emerald Square 57: The native Irish with eyes wide apart, staring in terror, little cock-a-snoot noses and long upper lips, wide mouths open.
1989		S. Armitage ‘Newton’s Third Law’ in Zoom 15: Two blue-eyed blondes / who cocked a snook at Phyllis and Simone.
1999		Eve. Standard 28 May 63: They cock a snook at ultra modern tripe with a well-measured veneer of knowledge.
1999		Observer Rev. 28 Nov. 4: The American suits looked on, cocking snooty.
2000		Guardian Weekend 29 Jan. 5: He was cocking a snook at that final sacred cow, his talent.
2017		M. Forsyth Short History of Drunkenness 50: Given the Greeks’ penchant for cocking a snook at those who dared not be Greek.

to observe, to look at.

1947

G. Fairlie Bulldog Drummond Stands Fast 45: You don’t really expect me not at least to poke a snoot at Irma if I run up against her.