Meaning

noun breathing device consisting of a bent tube fitting into a swimmer's mouth and extending above the surface; allows swimmer to breathe while face down in the water

noun air passage provided by a retractable device containing intake and exhaust pipes; permits a submarine to stay submerged for extended periods of time

verb dive with a snorkel

originBorrowed from German Schnorchel (“(submarine) snorkel”), related to schnarchen (“to snore”). Thus named because of the submarine snorkel's functional similarity to a nose and because of its noise when in use. The anglicized spelling was first recorded in 1945. See, for example, Mark S. Watson, "New Epoch in Sea War", The Baltimore Sun, December 31, 1945, p. 8: "The Germans' earlier quest of the…

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0