Word: snap Part of Speech: verb Etymology: Etymology tree Middle Dutch snappen Dutch snappenbor. Low German snappenbor. English snap 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. Pronunciation: /snæp/ 1. To fracture or break apart suddenly. Labels: intransitive, transitive Example: He snapped his stick in anger. Example: If you bend it too much, it will snap. 2. To give forth or produce a sharp cracking noise; to crack. Labels: intransitive Example: Blazing firewood snaps. 3. To attempt to seize or bite with the teeth, beak, etc. Labels: intransitive Example: A dog snaps at a passenger. A fish snaps at the bait. 4. To attempt to seize with eagerness. Labels: intransitive Example: She snapped at the chance to appear on television. 5. To speak abruptly or sharply. Labels: intransitive Example: He snapped at me for the slightest mistake. 6. To give way abruptly and loudly. Labels: intransitive 7. To suffer a mental breakdown, usually while under tension. Labels: intransitive Example: She should take a break before she snaps. Example: He was in the Thunderbirds before the war. One of the best combat pilots in 'Nam. Snapped. No doubt about it. 8. To flash or appear to flash as with light. Labels: intransitive 9. To fit or fasten together with a snapping sound. Labels: intransitive 10. To jump to a fixed position relative to another element. Labels: intransitive Example: The floating toolbar will snap to the edge of the screen when dragged towards it. 11. To snatch with or as if with the teeth. Labels: transitive Example: He, by playing too often at the mouth of death, has been snapped by it at last. 12. To pull apart with a snapping sound; to pop loose. Labels: transitive 13. To say abruptly or sharply. Labels: transitive Example: “No, please, stop with this nonsense,” snapped Julian Nagelsmann. Germany had just lost 2-1 to Ecuador in their final group game and the television interviewer was suggesting that with Germany already qualified, perhaps the Ecuadoreans had simply wanted it more. 14. To speak to abruptly or sharply; to treat snappishly; usually with up. Labels: dated, transitive Example: A surly, ill-bred Lord, That chides, and snaps her up at ev'ry Word 15. To cause something to emit a snapping sound, especially by closing it rapidly. Labels: transitive Example: to snap a fastener Example: to snap a whip 16. To close something using a snap as a fastener. Labels: transitive 17. 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. Labels: transitive Example: MacMorian[…] snapped his fingers repeatedly. 18. To cause to move suddenly and smartly. Labels: transitive 19. To move or shift suddenly. Labels: intransitive Example: The soldiers snapped to attention as the colonel entered the room. Example: 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. 20. To take a photograph; to release a camera's shutter (which may make a snapping sound). Labels: transitive Example: He snapped a picture of me with my mouth open and my eyes closed. Example: I arrive at the station in time to snap a few pictures and observe my fellow passengers. 21. Alternative letter-case form of Snap (“to send a visual message through the Snapchat application”). Labels: alt-of, ditransitive Example: 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. Example: 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. 22. To put (a football) in play by a backward pass or handoff from its position on the ground; to hike (a football). Labels: transitive Example: He can snap the ball to a back twenty yards behind him. 23. To misfire. Labels: intransitive Example: The gun snapped. 24. To catch out sharply (a batsman who has just snicked a bowled ball). Labels: transitive