snap

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.) 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.

noun

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.
    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. April 24 2020, 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.
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.
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.
    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.
    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.
    not worth a snap
26. (social media) A visual message sent through the Snapchat application.
    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.
    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

verb

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.
   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.
    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.
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.
    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.
    to snap a fastener
    to snap a whip
    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
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.
    I arrive at the station in time to snap a few pictures and observe my fellow passengers. December 2 2020, 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).
    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).

intj

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!"
   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!

adj

1. (informal, attributive) Done, made, performed, etc., quickly and unexpectedly, or without deliberation.
   a snap judgment or decision
   a snap political convention
   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