snap

[snap] /snæp/
verb (used without object), snapped, snapping.
1.
to make a sudden, sharp, distinct sound; crack, as a whip; crackle.
2.
to click, as a mechanism or the jaws or teeth coming together.
3.
to move, strike, shut, catch, etc., with a sharp sound, as a door, lid, or lock.
4.
to break suddenly, especially with a sharp, cracking sound, as something slender and brittle:
The branch snapped.
5.
to act or move with quick or abrupt motions of the body:
to snap to attention.
6.
Photography. to take a photograph, especially without formal posing of the subject.
7.
to make a quick or sudden bite or grab (often followed by at).
8.
to utter a quick, sharp sentence or speech, especially a command, reproof, retort, etc. (often followed by at).
9.
to be radiant; sparkle; flash, as the eyes.
verb (used with object), snapped, snapping.
10.
to seize with or take, buy, or obtain as with a quick bite or grab (followed by up or off):
The bargains were snapped up.
11.
to secure, judge, vote, etc., hastily:
They snapped the bill through Congress.
12.
to cause to make a sudden, sharp sound:
to snap one's fingers.
13.
to crack (a whip).
14.
to bring, strike, shut, open, operate, etc., with a sharp sound or movement:
to snap a lid down.
15.
to address or interrupt (a person) quickly and sharply.
16.
to say or utter (words, a command, a retort, etc.) in a quick, sharp manner:
to snap complaints.
17.
to break suddenly, especially with a cracking sound:
to snap a stick in half.
18.
Photography. to take a photograph of, especially quickly.
19.
Digital Technology. to use a smartphone or other digital device to scan (a QR code or other source) in order to read the encoded text or URL and to browse the hyperlinked website or Web page.
20.
Building Trades. to transfer (a line) to a surface by means of a chalk line.
21.
Football. to put (the ball) into play by tossing it back to the quarterback or other member of the offensive backfield, especially from between the legs when bent over double and facing the line of scrimmage; center.
22.
Hunting. to fire (a shot) quickly, especially without raising the gun to aim from the eye.
noun
23.
a quick, sudden action or movement, as the flick of a whip or the breaking of a twig.
24.
a short, sharp sound, as that caused by breaking a twig or closing a latch.
25.
a catch or fastener that closes by pressure and clicks together.
26.
Informal. briskness, vigor, or energy:
That song has a lot of snap.
27.
a quick, sharp speech or manner of speaking:
He uttered his commands with a snap.
28.
a quick or sudden bite or grab, as at something:
The fish ate with little snaps.
29.
something obtained by or as by biting or grabbing:
a snap of food.
30.
a brittle cookie.
31.
a short spell or period, as of cold weather:
an unexpected cold snap.
32.
Photography. a snapshot.
33.
Informal. an easy, profitable, or agreeable position, piece of work, or the like:
This job is a snap.
34.
Football. the act or an instance of snapping the ball.
35.
a snap bean.
36.
Informal. a snapdragon.
37.
British. a packed lunch, as that carried by a worker or traveler.
adjective
38.
fastening or closing with a click or snap, as a device fitted with a spring catch:
a snap lock.
39.
made, done, taken, etc., suddenly or offhand:
a snap judgment.
40.
easy or simple.
adverb
41.
in a brisk, sudden manner.
interjection
42.
(an exclamation of surprise, wonder, pleasure, regret, disappointment, etc.):
Oh snap! I forgot we had a test today!
Verb phrases
43.
snap to,
  1. to come to attention:
    The troops snapped to when the colonel walked in.
  2. to shape up:
    If you don't snap to and study, you'll flunk the course.
Idioms
44.
not give / care a snap of one's fingers for, to regard with indifference; treat lightly.
Also, not give/care a snap.
45.
snap one's fingers at. finger (def 23).
46.
snap out of, to free oneself from; recover from:
It took him a long time to snap out of his grief.
47.
snap someone's head off. bite (def 32).
Origin
1485-95; < Dutch or Low German snappen to bite, seize
Related forms
snapless, adjective
snappable, adjective
snappingly, adverb
Can be confused
schnapps, snaps.
Examples from the web for snap
  • Break the letters from their surrounding frame and then snap them together.
  • All ports protected under secure, but easy to use, snap closures.
  • Hold in place until set, then slide the snap onto a rack.
  • Those snap judgments are about as reliable as the credit rating on a mortgage-backed security.
  • There is a great amount of protection for animals in research so snap out of it and be reasonable.
  • If only you could snap your fingers and a garden would appear.
  • Both the razor and the toothbrush begin as small flat plastic boxes that unfold and snap together to become full-size objects.
  • As for the people who are going to snap and start hurting others.
  • It will continue to snap pictures and laser-map the topography, as well as take readings of the planet's magnetosphere.
  • Things are so bleak that there is even talk of a snap election this year.
British Dictionary definitions for snap

snap

/snæp/
verb snaps, snapping, snapped
1.
to break or cause to break suddenly, esp with a sharp sound
2.
to make or cause to make a sudden sharp cracking sound
3.
(intransitive) to give way or collapse suddenly, esp from strain
4.
to move, close, etc, or cause to move, close, etc, with a sudden sharp sound
5.
to move or cause to move in a sudden or abrupt way
6.
(intransitive; often foll by at or up) to seize something suddenly or quickly
7.
when intr, often foll by at. to bite at (something) bringing the jaws rapidly together
8.
to speak (words) sharply or abruptly
9.
(intransitive) (of eyes) to flash or sparkle
10.
to take a snapshot of (something)
11.
(intransitive) (hunting) to fire a quick shot without taking deliberate aim
12.
(transitive) (American football) to put (the ball) into play by sending it back from the line of scrimmage to a teammate
13.
(informal) snap one's fingers at
  1. to dismiss with contempt
  2. to defy
14.
(informal) snap out of it, to recover quickly, esp from depression, anger, or illness
noun
15.
the act of breaking suddenly or the sound produced by a sudden breakage
16.
a sudden sharp sound, esp of bursting, popping, or cracking
17.
a catch, clasp, or fastener that operates with a snapping sound
18.
a sudden grab or bite
19.
the sudden release of something such as elastic thread
20.
a brisk movement of the thumb against one or more fingers
21.
a thin crisp biscuit: ginger snaps
22.
(informal) See snapshot
23.
(informal) vigour, liveliness, or energy
24.
(informal) a task or job that is easy or profitable to do
25.
a short spell or period, esp of cold weather
26.
(Brit, dialect) food, esp a packed lunch taken to work
27.
(Brit) a card game in which the word snap is called when two cards of equal value are turned up on the separate piles dealt by each player
28.
(American football) the start of each play when the centre passes the ball back from the line of scrimmage to a teammate
29.
(modifier) done on the spur of the moment, without consideration or warning: a snap decision
30.
(modifier) closed or fastened with a snap
adverb
31.
with a snap
interjection
32.
  1. (cards) the word called while playing snap
  2. an exclamation used to draw attention to the similarity of two things
See also snap up
Derived Forms
snapless, adjective
snappable, adjective
Word Origin
C15: from Middle Low German or Middle Dutch snappen to seize; related to Old Norse snapa to snuffle
Contemporary definitions for snap
interjection

See oh snap

Word Origin and History for snap
n.

late 15c., "quick, sudden bite or cut," from Dutch or Low German snappen "to snap," probably related to Middle Low German or Middle Dutch snavel "bill, beak," from West Germanic *snu-, an imitative root forming words having to do with the nose (see snout).

As an adjective from 1790. Commonly used to indicate instantaneous action, e.g. snap judgment (1841). Sense of "quick movement" is first recorded 1630s; that of "something easily done" is 1877. Meaning "brief or sudden spell" of weather (usually cold) is from 1740. Meaning "catch or fastener that closes with a snapping sound" is from 1815. The card game name is attested from 1881, from a call used in the game. Meaning "a snap-shot" is from 1894. U.S. football sense is from 1912, earlier snap-back (1880), which also was a name for the center position. Snap, Crackle and Pop, cartoon characters associated with Kellogg breakfast cereal Rice Krispies, are from 1940.

v.

1520s, of animals, "to make a quick bite," from snap (n.). Meaning "to break suddenly or sharply" is first recorded c.1600; the mental sense is from 1970s. Meaning "come into place with a snap" is from 1793. Meaning "take a photograph" is from 1890. U.S. football sense first recorded 1887. Related: Snapped; snapping. To snap the fingers is from 1670s. Phrase snap out of it recorded by 1907. Snapping turtle is attested from 1784. Snap-brim (adj.) in reference to a type of hat is from 1928.

snap in Medicine

snap (snāp)
n.
A short sharp sound; a click. Used especially of cardiac sounds.

Slang definitions & phrases for snap

snap

noun
  1. Energy; vim; dash; pizzazz (1865+)
  2. A photograph; snapshot (1894+)
  3. An insult, esp a public taunt: In the relative privacy of the dugout, the quick-tempered wreak havoc with what some teams call ''snaps'' (1990s+)
verb
  1. : The photographer snapped him making a rude gesture
  2. To mock or tease; SNAP ON someone (1960s+ Black)
  3. To go crazy; freak out: that Richard Herrin should have snapped (1970s+)

[the third noun sense is found by 1648, but the current street and sports use is probably not a survival; the third verb sense is fr the cliche´ ''something snapped in his mind'']


snap in Technology

language
1. An early (IBM 360?) interpreted text-processing language for beginners, close to basic English.
["Computer Programming in English", M.P. Barnett, Harcourt Brace 1969].
2. ["Some Proposals for SNAP, A Language with Formal Macro Facilities", R.B. Napper, Computer J 10(3):231-243, 1967].
[Same as 1?]
(2006-05-27)


1. To remove indirection, e.g. by replacing a pointer to a pointer with a pointer to the final target (see chase pointers).
The underlying metaphor may be a rubber band stretched through a number of points; if you release it from the intermediate points, it snaps to a straight line from first to last.
Often a trampoline performs an error check once and then snaps the pointer that invoked it so subsequent calls will bypass the trampoline (and its one-shot error check). In this context one also speaks of "snapping links". For example, in a Lisp implementation, a function interface trampoline might check to make sure that the caller is passing the correct number of arguments; if it is, and if the caller and the callee are both compiled, then snapping the link allows that particular path to use a direct procedure-call instruction with no further overhead.
[Jargon File]
(2006-05-27)
2. snap dump.
(2006-05-27)