snipe

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
snipe /snʌɪp/

▶noun (pl. same or snipes) a wading bird with brown camouflaged plumage and a long straight bill. [Gallinago gallinago and other species.] ▶verb

• 1 shoot at someone from a hiding place at long range.

• 2 make a sly or petty verbal attack.

– derivatives
sniper noun,
sniping adjective & noun.

– origin ME: prob. of Scand. origin.