snipe
v.v. to make a quick, mean comment about someone. It can also mean to shoot at someone from a hidden place far away.
v. to make a critical or mocking remark, typically in a sudden or indirect manner. Also refers to firing a shot from a concealed position at long range.
They often snipe at each other during office meetings.
Political rivals often snipe at one another in the press rather than debating the actual policy details.
The columnists continued to snipe at the administration's failures, though their criticisms lacked the substantive data required to sway public opinion.
From Middle English snipe, snype (a type of bird), from Old Norse snípa, as in mýrisnípa (“moor snipe”). Akin to Norwegian snipe. The verb originated in the 1770s among soldiers in British India where a hunter skilled enough to kill the elusive snipe was dubbed a "sniper". The term sniper was first attested in 1824 in the sense of the word "sharpshooter".
Probably from snip or a cognate
Either from sneap or a figurative development from Etymology 1.
When meaning to criticize, it is intransitive and almost always takes the preposition 'at'.
He sniped his coworker's idea.He sniped at his coworker's idea.In the sense of verbal criticism, the verb is intransitive and requires the preposition 'at' before the target.