Definition of "snap"

snap

/snæp/

noun
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.
7. The sudden release of something held under pressure or tension.
8. A thin circular cookie or similar baked good.
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.
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.
  Quotations
  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.
  2020 April 24, Ken Belson, Ben Shpigel, “Full Round 1 2020 N.F.L. Picks and Analysis”, in New York Time‎
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.
  Quotations
  When I went to put my coat on at snap time, what should go runnin' up my arm but a mouse.
  1913, D[avid] H[erbert] Lawrence, “Chapter 4”, in Sons and Lovers, London: Duckworth & Co. […]
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.
  Quotations
  up rises a Cunning Snap, then at the Board, who desir'd to be Inform'd
  1692, Roger L’Estrange, “ (please specify the fable number.) (please specify the name of the fable.)”, in Fables, of Æsop and Other Eminent Mythologists: […], London: […] R[ichard] Sare, […]
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.
  Quotations
  He's a nimble fellow, / And alike skill'd in every liberal science, / As having certain snaps of all.
  1625 (first performance), Ben[jamin] Jonson, The Staple of Newes. […], London: […] I[ohn] B[eale] for Robert Allot […], published 1631, (please specify the page), (please specify the scene number in lowercase Roman numerals)
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.
  Quotations
  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 […]
  1876, New Shakspere Society (London, England), Publications (page 169)
  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.
  1920, Cornell Forester, volumes 1-6
21. (slang) Something that is easy or effortless.
  Quotations
  I’m afraid my course is regarded as a ‘snap.’ Everybody, it seems, can grasp English literature (and produce it).
  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, page 56
  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.
  2003, Clive Selwood, All the Moves (but None of the Licks), page 33
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.
26. (social media) A visual message sent through the Snapchat application.
  Quotations
  By April 2014, over 700 million snaps are shared per day on Snapchat — more than Facebook, WhatsApp, and other social networks.
  2014, Newton Lee, Facebook Nation: Total Information Awareness, page 51
  The oldest snaps will be deleted after 24 hours, and to keep the story going you'll have to add new content regularly.
  2015, Suse Barnes, Like, Follow, Share: Awesome, Actionable Social Media Marketing to Maximise Your Online Potential, page 238
  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.
  2015, Yuval Karniel, Amit Lavie-Dinur, Privacy and Fame: How We Expose Ourselves across Media Platforms, page 120
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.
  Quotations
  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.
  2013, Paul Chantler, Peter Stewart, Basic Radio Journalism, page 159
34. (slang) An insult of the kind used in the African-American verbal game of the dozens.
  Quotations
  […] 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.”
  2013, Lewis R. Gordon, Existentia Africana: Understanding Africana Existential Thought, page 34
  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.”
  2015, Simon J. Bronner, Encyclopedia of American Folklife
verb
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.
  Quotations
  But this weapon will snap short, unfaithful to the hand that employs it.
  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, […]
2. (intransitive) To give forth or produce a sharp cracking noise; to crack.
3. (intransitive) To attempt to seize or bite with the teeth, beak, etc.
4. (intransitive) To attempt to seize with eagerness.
5. (intransitive) To speak abruptly or sharply.
6. (intransitive) To give way abruptly and loudly.
7. (intransitive) To suffer a mental breakdown, usually while under tension.
  Quotations
  He was in the Thunderbirds before the war. One of the best combat pilots in 'Nam. Snapped. No doubt about it.
  1983, Frank Lupo, Stephen J. Cannell, “Mexican Slayride”, in The A-Team, season 1, episode 1, spoken by Colonel Lynch (William Lucking)
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.
11. (transitive) To snatch with or as if with the teeth.
  Quotations
  He, by playing too often at the mouth of death, has been snapped by it at last.
  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
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.
  Quotations
  A surly, ill-bred Lord, That chides, and snaps her up at ev'ry Word
  1721, George Granville, “Cleora”, in Poems Upon Several Occasions
15. (transitive) To cause something to emit a snapping sound, especially by closing it rapidly.
  Quotations
  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.
  1886, Peter Christen Asbjørnsen, translated by H.L. Brækstad, Folk and Fairy Tales, page 71
  "Time's up!" said Mr. Peeble, snapping his watch.
  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
16. (transitive) To close something using a snap as a fastener.
17. (transitive) A video of a person snapping their fingers.Alternative snapping techniqueTo 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.
  Quotations
  MacMorian […] snapped his fingers repeatedly.
  1815 February 24, [Walter Scott], Guy Mannering; or, The Astrologer. […], volumes (please specify |volume=I to III), Edinburgh: […] James Ballantyne and Co. for Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, […]; and Archibald Constable and Co., […]
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).
  Quotations
  I arrive at the station in time to snap a few pictures and observe my fellow passengers.
  2020 December 2, Paul Bigland, “My weirdest and wackiest Rover yet”, in Rail, page 64
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).
22. To misfire.
23. (cricket, transitive) To catch out sharply (a batsman who has just snicked a bowled ball).
interjection
1. The cry used in a game of snap when winning a hand.
2. (Britain, Australia, by extension) "I've got one the same!", "Me too!"
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.
5. (Britain, Australia, New Zealand) Ritual utterance used after something is said by two people at exactly the same time.
adjective
not comparable
1. (informal, attributive) Done, made, performed, etc., quickly and unexpectedly, or without deliberation.
  Quotations
  Now I should consider it a very snap judgment or a snap diagnosis for anybody to come into a medical society
  1889, The Kansas City Medical Index-Lancet, volume 10, number 8

Definition of "snap"

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verb

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interjection

adjective

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