snap

See also: Snap and SNAP

English

Etymology

From Dutch snappen (“to bite; seize”) or Low German snappen (“to bite; seize”), ultimately from Proto-West Germanic *snappōn, from Proto-Germanic *snappōną (“to snap; snatch; chatter”), intensive form of *snapāną (”to snap; grab”, whence Old Norse snapa (“to get; scrounge”)), from Proto-Indo-European *snop-; compare Lithuanian snãpas (“beak, bill”).[1] (One alternative hypothesis links the Germanic words to *snu-, an expressive root deriving words meaning “nose”, “snout”, “sniff” etc.,[2] but this is phonetically unsound.) Cognate with West Frisian snappe (“to get; catch; snap”), German schnappen (“to grab”), Swedish snappa (“to snatch”). In any case influenced by onomatopoeia; note expressions such as snip-snap, containing the formally unrelated snip.

The verb is derived from the noun.[2]

Pronunciation
  • IPA(key): /snæp/
  • Audio (US)(file)
  • Audio (AU)(file)
  • Rhymes: -æp

Noun

snap (countable and uncountable, plural snaps)

  1. A quick breaking or cracking sound or the action of producing such a sound.
  2. A sudden break.
  3. An attempt to seize, bite, attack, or grab.
  4. The act of snapping the fingers; making a sound by pressing a finger against the thumb and suddenly releasing to strike the hand.
  5. A fastening device that makes a snapping sound when used.
  6. (informal) A photograph; a snapshot.
    We took a few snaps of the old church before moving on.
  7. The sudden release of something held under pressure or tension.
  8. A thin circular cookie or similar baked good.
    a ginger snap
  9. A brief, sudden period of a certain weather; used primarily in the phrase cold snap.
  10. A very short period of time (figuratively, the time taken to snap one's fingers), or a task that can be accomplished in such a period.
    It'll be a snap to get that finished.
    I can fix most vacuum cleaners in a snap.
  11. A snap bean such as Phaseolus vulgaris.
  12. (American football) A backward pass or handoff of a football from its position on the ground that puts the ball in play; a hike.
    • 2020 April 24, Ken Belson, Ben Shpigel, “Full Round 1 2020 N.F.L. Picks and Analysis”, in New York Time‎:
      According to Pro Football Focus, Simmons, listed at 6-foot-4 and 238 pounds, played at least 100 snaps at five positions — slot cornerback, edge rusher, linebacker and both safety spots — and finished with 16½ tackles for a loss, eight sacks, eight pass deflections and three interceptions.
  13. (colloquial) A rivet: a scrapbooking embellishment.
  14. (fishing) A small device resembling a safety pin, used to attach the bait or lure to the line.
  15. (UK, regional) A small meal, a snack; lunch.
  16. (uncountable) A card game, primarily for children, in which players cry "snap" to claim pairs of matching cards as they are turned up.
  17. (obsolete) A greedy fellow.
  18. That which is, or may be, snapped up; something bitten off, seized, or obtained by a single quick movement; hence, a bite, morsel, or fragment; a scrap.
    • 1625 (first performance), Ben[jamin] Jonson, The Staple of Newes. […], London: […] I[ohn] B[eale] for Robert Allot […], published 1631, →OCLC, (please specify the page), (please specify the scene number in lowercase Roman numerals):
      He's a nimble fellow, / And alike skill'd in every liberal science, / As having certain snaps of all.
  19. briskness; vigour; energy; decision
  20. (slang, archaic) Any circumstance out of which money may be made or an advantage gained. used primarily in the phrase soft snap.
    • 1876, New Shakspere Society (London, England), Publications (page 169)
      A Sea Soldier is certaine of victuals and wages, where the Land Soldiers pay will hardly find him sustenance. A Sea Soldier may now and than chaunce to haue a snapp at a bootie or a price, which may in an instant make him a fortune […]
    • 1920, Cornell Forester, volumes 1-6:
      The Profs they lead a jolly life, jolly life, / They're free from every care and strife, care and strife. / They make the studes, poor studes fall into line; / I wish the Profs' soft snap were mine.
  21. (slang) Something that is easy or effortless.
    • 1919, Henry B[lake] Fuller, “Cope Dines—and Tells About It”, in Bertram Cope’s Year: A Novel, Chicago, Ill.: Ralph Fletcher Seymour, The Alderbrink Press, →OCLC, page 56:
      I’m afraid my course is regarded as a ‘snap.’ Everybody, it seems, can grasp English literature (and produce it).
    • 2003, Clive Selwood, All the Moves (but None of the Licks), page 33:
      The job was a snap. I travelled the country averaging a thousand miles a week and, since the previous incumbent had been a lazy bugger, managed to treble the business. It was a cinch.
  22. A snapper, or snap beetle.
  23. (physics, humorous) jounce (the fourth derivative of the position vector with respect to time), followed by crackle and pop
  24. A quick offhand shot with a firearm; a snap shot.
  25. (colloquial) Something of no value.
    not worth a snap
  26. (social media) A visual message sent through the Snapchat application.
    • 2014, Newton Lee, Facebook Nation: Total Information Awareness, page 51:
      By April 2014, over 700 million snaps are shared per day on Snapchat — more than Facebook, WhatsApp, and other social networks.
    • 2015, Suse Barnes, Like, Follow, Share: Awesome, Actionable Social Media Marketing to Maximise Your Online Potential, page 238:
      The oldest snaps will be deleted after 24 hours, and to keep the story going you'll have to add new content regularly.
    • 2015, Yuval Karniel, Amit Lavie-Dinur, Privacy and Fame: How We Expose Ourselves across Media Platforms, page 120:
      While Snapchat bases its whole product marketing on the auto-deletion of the snaps (images and videos) so that they are not stored, recent reports indicate otherwise.
  27. (Linux) A package provided for the application sandboxing system snapd developed by Canonical.
  28. (uncountable) A crisp or pithy quality; epigrammatic point or force.
  29. A tool used by riveters.
  30. A tool used by glass-moulders.
  31. (slang, dated) A brief theatrical engagement.
  32. (slang, dated) A cheat or sharper.
  33. A newsflash.
    • 2013, Paul Chantler, Peter Stewart, Basic Radio Journalism, page 159:
      A 'snap' usually becomes a 'newsflash' on air. Keep snaps short, only run them when news is really 'hot', and try not to break a story within a few minutes of the bulletin unless it is top priority.
  34. (slang) An insult of the kind used in the African-American verbal game of the dozens.
    Synonym: rankout
    • 2013, Lewis R. Gordon, Existentia Africana: Understanding Africana Existential Thought, page 34:
      […] black communities, this “snap” or example of the “dozens” (the clever form of insult also known as signifying and dissin') appears: “Your father's so black that when he falls down, people hop over him for fear of falling in.”
    • 2015, Simon J. Bronner, Encyclopedia of American Folklife:
      The subcategory of snaps or rankouts often follows the formula of “Your mother's like——; she——,” or “Your mother's so——, she——.” Examples are “Your mother's like a door-knob; everyone gets a turn” and “Your mother's so low, she could play handball on the curb.”

Derived terms

Translations
snap beetle — see snap beetle
quick offhand shot with a firearm — see snap shot

Verb

snap (third-person singular simple present snaps, present participle snapping, simple past and past participle snapped or (obsolete) snapt)

  1. (intransitive, transitive) To fracture or break apart suddenly.
    He snapped his stick in anger.
    If you bend it too much, it will snap.
  2. (intransitive) To give forth or produce a sharp cracking noise; to crack.
    Blazing firewood snaps.
  3. (intransitive) To attempt to seize or bite with the teeth, beak, etc.
    A dog snaps at a passenger. A fish snaps at the bait.
  4. (intransitive) To attempt to seize with eagerness.
    She snapped at the chance to appear on television.
  5. (intransitive) To speak abruptly or sharply.
    He snapped at me for the slightest mistake.
  6. (intransitive) To give way abruptly and loudly.
  7. (intransitive) To suffer a mental breakdown, usually while under tension.
    She should take a break before she snaps.
  8. (intransitive) To flash or appear to flash as with light.
  9. (intransitive) To fit or fasten together with a snapping sound.
  10. (intransitive, computing, graphical user interface) To jump to a fixed position relative to another element.
    The floating toolbar will snap to the edge of the screen when dragged towards it.
  11. (transitive) To snatch with or as if with the teeth.
    • 1692–1717, Robert South, Twelve Sermons Preached upon Several Occasions, 6th edition, volumes (please specify |volume=I to VI), London: […] J[ames] Bettenham, for Jonah Bowyer, […], published 1727, →OCLC:
      He, by playing too often at the mouth of death, has been snapped by it at last.
  12. (transitive) To pull apart with a snapping sound; to pop loose.
  13. (transitive) To say abruptly or sharply.
  14. (transitive, dated) To speak to abruptly or sharply; to treat snappishly; usually with up.
    • 1721, George Granville, “Cleora”, in Poems Upon Several Occasions:
      A surly, ill-bred Lord,
      That chides, and snaps her up at ev'ry Word
  15. (transitive) To cause something to emit a snapping sound, especially by closing it rapidly.
    to snap a fastener
    to snap a whip
    • 1886, Peter Christen Asbjørnsen, translated by H.L. Brækstad, Folk and Fairy Tales, page 71:
      Three more birds came in, and as each took up his roosting place, the old bird repeated his challenge by snapping his beak at them.
    • 1925 July – 1926 May, A[rthur] Conan Doyle, “(please specify the chapter number)”, in The Land of Mist (eBook no. 0601351h.html), Australia: Project Gutenberg Australia, published April 2019:
      "Time's up!" said Mr. Peeble, snapping his watch.
  16. (transitive) To close something using a snap as a fastener.
  17. (transitive) To snap one's fingers: to make a snapping sound, often by pressing the thumb and an opposing finger of the same hand together and suddenly releasing the grip so that the finger hits against the palm; alternatively, by bringing the index finger quickly down onto the middle finger and thumb.
  18. (transitive) To cause to move suddenly and smartly.
  19. (transitive) To take a photograph; to release a camera's shutter (which may make a snapping sound).
    He snapped a picture of me with my mouth open and my eyes closed.
    • 2020 December 2, Paul Bigland, “My weirdest and wackiest Rover yet”, in Rail, page 64:
      I arrive at the station in time to snap a few pictures and observe my fellow passengers.
  20. (social media, transitive) To send a visual message through the Snapchat application.
  21. (transitive, American football) To put (a football) in play by a backward pass or handoff from its position on the ground; to hike (a football).
    He can snap the ball to a back twenty yards behind him.
  22. To misfire.
    The gun snapped.
  23. (cricket, transitive) To catch out sharply (a batsman who has just snicked a bowled ball).

Derived terms
Terms derived from snap (verb)

Translations

Interjection

snap!

  1. The cry used in a game of snap when winning a hand.
  2. (British, Australia, by extension) "I've got one the same!", "Me too!"
    Snap! We've both got pink buckets and spades.
  3. (British) Ritual utterance of agreement (after the cry in the card game snap).
  4. (Canada, US) Used in place of expletive to express surprise, usually in response to a negative statement or news; often used facetiously.
    I just ran over your phone with my car. —Oh, snap!
  5. (British, Australia, New Zealand) Ritual utterance used after something is said by two people at exactly the same time.
    Synonym: jinx
    —Wasn't that John? —Wasn't that John? —Snap!

Translations
simultaneous speech — see jinx
The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Adjective

snap (not comparable)

  1. (informal, attributive) Done, made, performed, etc., quickly and unexpectedly, or without deliberation.
    a snap judgment or decision
    a snap political convention
    • 1889, The Kansas City Medical Index-Lancet, volume 10, number 8:
      Now I should consider it a very snap judgment or a snap diagnosis for anybody to come into a medical society

Derived terms

See also

References
  1. Kroonen, Guus (2011) The Proto-Germanic n-stems: A study in diachronic morphophonology, Amsterdam, New York: Rodopi, →ISBN, page 249
  2. Douglas Harper (2001–2024) “snap”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.
  • “snap”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.

Anagrams

Dutch

Pronunciation
  • Audio(file)

Verb

snap

  1. inflection of snappen:
    1. first-person singular present indicative
    2. imperative

Anagrams

Scottish Gaelic

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Noun

snap m (genitive singular snaip, plural snapan)

  1. trigger (of a gun)
  2. morsel

Derived terms
  • snapach (“having a trigger; that misses fire; that fires; that strikes fast”)

Verb

snap (past snap, future snapaidh, verbal noun snapadh, past participle snapta)

  1. pull a trigger
  2. misfire

Derived terms
  • snapaireachd (“snapping, snapping sound, as that caused by pulling the trigger of a gun”)

References
  • Edward Dwelly (1911) “snap”, in Faclair Gàidhlig gu Beurla le Dealbhan [The Illustrated Gaelic–English Dictionary]‎, 10th edition, Edinburgh: Birlinn Limited, →ISBN

Spanish

Noun

snap m (plural snaps)

  1. snap (photograph)
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