snap
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: ipa: /snæp/
rhymes: -æp
Forms: form: snaps
form: snapping
form: snapped
form: snapped
form: snapt
form: snapt
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”). (One alternative hypothesis links the Germanic words to *snu-, an expressive root deriving words meaning “nose”, “snout”, “sniff” etc., but this is phonetically unsound.) In any case influenced by onomatopoeia; note expressions such as snip-snap, containing the formally unrelated snip.
Cognate with West Frisian snappe (“to get; catch; snap”), German schnappen (“to grab”), Swedish snappa (“to snatch”).
The verb is derived from the noun.
Senses: examples: text: He snapped his stick in anger.
text: If you bend it too much, it will snap.
text: But this weapon will snap short, unfaithful to the hand that employs it.
ref: 1790 November, Edmund Burke, Reflections on the Revolution in France, and on the Proceedings in Certain Societies in London Relative to that Event. […], London: […] J[ames] Dodsley, […], →OCLC:
glosses: To fracture or break apart suddenly.
examples: text: Blazing firewood snaps.
glosses: To give forth or produce a sharp cracking noise; to crack.
examples: text: A dog snaps at a passenger. A fish snaps at the bait.
glosses: To attempt to seize or bite with the teeth, beak, etc.
examples: text: She snapped at the chance to appear on television.
glosses: To attempt to seize with eagerness.
examples: text: He snapped at me for the slightest mistake.
glosses: To speak abruptly or sharply.
glosses: To give way abruptly and loudly.
examples: text: She should take a break before she snaps.
text: He was in the Thunderbirds before the war. One of the best combat pilots in 'Nam. Snapped. No doubt about it.
ref: 1983, Frank Lupo, Stephen J. Cannell, “Mexican Slayride”, in The A-Team, season 1, episode 1, spoken by Colonel Lynch (William Lucking):
text: At the moment Carter snapped, a lunch break in J&M turned into a blood riot when half a dozen technicians dropped their snacks and began cannibalizing each other instead. In I&T, their opposite numbers began beating each other to death with keyboards, chairs, and even computer monitors while their Chief masticated her husband's digits.
ref: 2024 September 28, Harry Blank, “Not Ready for Prime Time”, in Deadlined, →ISBN, page 604:
glosses: To suffer a mental breakdown, usually while under tension.
glosses: To flash or appear to flash as with light.
glosses: To fit or fasten together with a snapping sound.
examples: text: The floating toolbar will snap to the edge of the screen when dragged towards it.
topics: computing
engineering
graphical-user-interface
mathematics
natural-sciences
physical-sciences
sciences
glosses: To jump to a fixed position relative to another element.
examples: text: He, by playing too often at the mouth of death, has been snapped by it at last.
ref: 1692–1717, Robert South, Twelve Sermons Preached upon Several Occasions, volume (please specify |volume=I to VI), London:
glosses: To snatch with or as if with the teeth.
glosses: To pull apart with a snapping sound; to pop loose.
glosses: To say abruptly or sharply.
examples: text: A surly, ill-bred Lord,
That chides, and snaps her up at ev'ry Word
ref: 1721, George Granville, “Cleora”, in Poems Upon Several Occasions:
glosses: To speak to abruptly or sharply; to treat snappishly; usually with up.
examples: text: to snap a fastener
text: to snap a whip
text: 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.
ref: 1886, Peter Christen Asbjørnsen, translated by H.L. Brækstad, Folk and Fairy Tales, page 71:
text: "Time's up!" said Mr. Peeble, snapping his watch.
ref: 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:
glosses: To cause something to emit a snapping sound, especially by closing it rapidly.
glosses: To close something using a snap as a fastener.
examples: text: MacMorian[…] snapped his fingers repeatedly.
ref: 1815 February 24, [Walter Scott], Guy Mannering; or, The Astrologer. […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), Edinburgh: […] James Ballantyne and Co. for Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, […]; and Archibald Constable and Co., […], →OCLC:
glosses: 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.
glosses: To cause to move suddenly and smartly.
examples: text: The soldiers snapped to attention as the colonel entered the room.
text: Veiksaar's half-baked .aic was running the camera feeds, and traced the path of destruction beginning in the workroom with brutal efficiency. The views snapped from scene to scene on five second intervals, and it was like watching an interpolation of every snuff film ever made.
ref: 2024 September 28, Harry Blank, “Not Ready for Prime Time”, in Deadlined, →ISBN, page 604:
glosses: To move or shift suddenly.
examples: text: He snapped a picture of me with my mouth open and my eyes closed.
text: I arrive at the station in time to snap a few pictures and observe my fellow passengers.
ref: 2020 December 2, Paul Bigland, “My weirdest and wackiest Rover yet”, in Rail, page 64:
glosses: To take a photograph; to release a camera's shutter (which may make a snapping sound).
examples: text: As I set myself up the round table, my phone lit up with a few notifications on Snapchat. Gustin snapped me a few pictures of the three boys in the park.
ref: 2019, Keertiga Chandran, “Rockhurst”, in The Pebble Fall Theme Park: Welcome to the Pebble Fall Theme Park, Partridge Publishing Singapore, →ISBN:
text: Did you know she just joined Snapchat? Last night, she snapped me a picture of you sitting in a muddy puddle in nothing but your diaper.
ref: 2024, Jami Rogers, “Chapter Two: Natalie”, in Always Been Write: A Small Town, Best Friends to Lovers Romance (Lust or Bust; 6):
qualifier: social media
glosses: Alternative letter-case form of Snap (“to send a visual message through the Snapchat application”).
examples: text: He can snap the ball to a back twenty yards behind him.
topics: American-football
ball-games
football
games
hobbies
lifestyle
sports
glosses: To put (a football) in play by a backward pass or handoff from its position on the ground; to hike (a football).
examples: text: The gun snapped.
glosses: To misfire.
topics: ball-games
cricket
games
hobbies
lifestyle
sports
glosses: To catch out sharply (a batsman who has just snicked a bowled ball).
Derived terms: sense: Terms derived from snap (verb)
word: finger-snap
sense: Terms derived from snap (verb)
word: snap at someone's heels
sense: Terms derived from snap (verb)
word: snap back
sense: Terms derived from snap (verb)
word: snap in
sense: Terms derived from snap (verb)
word: snap-in-one
sense: Terms derived from snap (verb)
word: snap-in-one diaper
sense: Terms derived from snap (verb)
word: snap-in-one nappy
sense: Terms derived from snap (verb)
word: snap it up
sense: Terms derived from snap (verb)
word: snap one's fingers
sense: Terms derived from snap (verb)
word: snap out of
sense: Terms derived from snap (verb)
word: snapping beetle
sense: Terms derived from snap (verb)
word: snapping hip syndrome
sense: Terms derived from snap (verb)
word: snapping scapula syndrome
sense: Terms derived from snap (verb)
word: snapping shrimp
sense: Terms derived from snap (verb)
word: snapping turtle
sense: Terms derived from snap (verb)
word: snap someone's head off
sense: Terms derived from snap (verb)
word: snap to
sense: Terms derived from snap (verb)
word: snap to attention
sense: Terms derived from snap (verb)
word: snap to it
sense: Terms derived from snap (verb)
word: snap up
sense: Terms derived from snap (verb)
word: Thanos-snap
sense: Terms derived from snap (verb)
word: unsnap