snap

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See also: SNAP

English[edit]

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 snap on Wikipedia

Etymology[edit]

From Dutch snappen (“to bite; seize”) or Low German snappen (“to bite; seize”), ultimately from Proto-Germanic *snappōną (“to snap; snatch; chatter”), intensive form of *snapāną ("to snap; grab"; > Old Norse snapa (“to get; scrounge”)), from Proto-Indo-European *ksnew- (“to scrape; scratch; grate; rub”). Cognate with West Frisian snappe (“to get; catch; snap”), German schnappen (“to grab”), Swedish snappa (“to snatch”).

Pronunciation[edit]

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

Noun[edit]

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 making a snapping sound 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.
  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 and Ben Shpigel, “Full Round 1 2020 N.F.L. Picks and Analysis”, in New York Time‎[1]:
      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. (somewhat colloquial) A rivet: a scrapbooking embellishment.
  14. (Britain, regional) A small meal, a snack; lunch.
    • 1913, D H Lawrence, Sons and Lovers, Penguin 2006, page 89:
      When I went to put my coat on at snap time, what should go runnin' up my arm but a mouse.
  15. (uncountable) A card game, primarily for children, in which players cry "snap" to claim pairs of matching cards as they are turned up.
  16. (obsolete) A greedy fellow.
    (Can we find and add a quotation of L'Estrange to this entry?)
  17. 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.
  18. briskness; vigour; energy; decision
  19. (slang, archaic) Any circumstance out of which money may be made or an advantage gained. used primarily in the phrase soft snap.
    • 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.
  20. (slang) Something that is easy or effortless.
  21. A snapper, or snap beetle.
  22. (physics, humorous) jounce (the fourth derivative of the position vector with respect to time), followed by crackle and pop
  23. A quick offhand shot with a firearm; a snap shot.
  24. (colloquial) Something of no value.
    not worth a snap
  25. (Internet) A visual message sent through the Snapchat application.
    • 2014, Newton Lee, Facebook Nation: Total Information Awareness, p. 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, p. 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, p. 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.
  26. (uncountable) A crisp or pithy quality; epigrammatic point or force.
  27. A tool used by riveters.
  28. A tool used by glass-moulders.
  29. (slang, dated) A brief theatrical engagement.
  30. (slang, dated) An easy and profitable place or task; a sinecure.
  31. (slang, dated) A cheat or sharper.

Derived terms[edit]

Translations[edit]

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

Verb[edit]

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 with the teeth or bite.
    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.
    • (Can we date this quote by South and provide title, author’s full name, and other details?)
      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.
    (Can we find and add a quotation of Granville to this entry?)
  15. (transitive) To cause something to emit a snapping sound.
    to snap a fastener
    to snap a whip
  16. (transitive) To close something using a snap as a fastener.
  17. (transitive)
    A video of a person snapping their fingers.
    Alternative snapping technique
    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.
  20. (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.
  21. To misfire.
    The gun snapped.
  22. (cricket, transitive) To catch out sharply (a batsman who has just snicked a bowled ball).

Derived terms[edit]

Terms derived from snap (verb)

Translations[edit]

Interjection[edit]

snap!

  1. The cry used in a game of snap when winning a hand.
  2. (Britain, Australia) By extension from the card game, "I've got one the same!", "Me too!"
    Snap! We've both got pink buckets and spades.
  3. (Britain) 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. (Britain, Australia, New Zealand) Ritual utterance used after something is said by two people at exactly the same time.
    "Wasn't that John?" "Wasn't that John?" "Snap!"

Synonyms[edit]

  • (used after simultaneous utterance): jinx

Translations[edit]

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked

Adjective[edit]

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, issue 8:
      Now I should consider it a very snap judgment or a snap diagnosis for anybody to come into a medical society

Derived terms[edit]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  • snap at OneLook Dictionary Search

Anagrams[edit]

Dutch[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

Verb[edit]

snap

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

Anagrams[edit]

Scottish Gaelic[edit]

Etymology[edit]

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

Noun[edit]

snap m (genitive singular snaip, plural snapan)

  1. trigger (of a gun)
  2. morsel

Derived terms[edit]

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

Verb[edit]

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

  1. pull a trigger
  2. misfire

Derived terms[edit]

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

References[edit]

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

Spanish[edit]

Noun[edit]

snap m (plural snaps)

  1. snap (photograph)
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