snuff

snuff, powdered preparation of tobacco used by inhalation or by dipping—that is, rubbing on the teeth and gums. Manufacture involves grinding the tobacco and subjecting it to repeated fermentations. Snuffs may be scented with attar of roses, lavender, cloves, jasmine, etc. Some of the first peoples known to use snuff were the natives of Brazil. In the late 15th century, members of Christopher Columbus’s crew observed indigenous Caribbean peoples inhaling a snufflike preparation of tobacco....