snap

verb24

1. •
   to break apart all at once, often into two pieces

   • He snapped his stick in anger.
   • If you bend it too much, it will snap.
2. •
   To give way abruptly and loudly.
3. •
   To speak abruptly or sharply.

   • He snapped at me for the slightest mistake.
4. •
   To say abruptly or sharply.
5. •
   (old-fashioned) 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
6. •
   To suffer a mental breakdown, usually while under tension.

   • She should take a break before she snaps.
7. •
   To give forth or produce a sharp cracking noise; to crack.

   • Blazing firewood snaps.
8. •
   To cause something to emit a snapping sound, especially by closing it rapidly.

   • 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
9. •
   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.

   • MacMorian[…] snapped his fingers repeatedly. — 1815
10. •
    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.
11. •
    To attempt to seize or bite with the teeth, beak, etc.

    • A dog snaps at a passenger. A fish snaps at the bait.
12. •
    To attempt to seize with eagerness.

    • She snapped at the chance to appear on television.
13. •
    To snatch with or as if with the teeth.

    • He, by playing too often at the mouth of death, has been snapped by it at last. — 1692
14. •
    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.
15. •
    To cause to move suddenly and smartly.
16. •
    To move or shift suddenly.

    • The soldiers snapped to attention as the colonel entered the room.
17. •
    To fit or fasten together with a snapping sound.
18. •
    To close something using a snap as a fastener.
19. •
    To send a visual message through the Snapchat application.
20. •
    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 pull apart with a snapping sound; to pop loose.
22. •
    To flash or appear to flash as with light.
23. •
    To misfire.

    • The gun snapped.
24. •
    To catch out sharply (a batsman who has just snicked a bowled ball).

noun38

1. •
   A quick breaking or cracking sound or the action of producing such a sound.
2. •
   The act of snapping the fingers; making a sound by pressing a finger against the thumb and suddenly releasing to strike the hand.
3. •
   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.
4. •
   (slang) Something that is easy or effortless.

   • I’m afraid my course is regarded as a ‘snap.’ Everybody, it seems, can grasp English literature (and produce it). — 1919
5. •
   (informal) A photograph; a snapshot.

   • We took a few snaps of the old church before moving on.
6. •
   A visual message sent through the Snapchat application.

   • The Snapstreak increases when you and your friend send a Snap to each other within a 24-hour period for three consecutive days. — 2019
7. •
   Alternative letter-case form of Snap.
8. •
   A brief, sudden period of a certain weather; used primarily in the phrase cold snap.
9. •
   A sudden break.
10. •
    An attempt to seize, bite, attack, or grab.
11. •
    A fastening device that makes a snapping sound when used.
12. •
    A small device resembling a safety pin, used to attach the bait or lure to the line.
13. •
    A backward pass or handoff of a football from its position on the ground that puts the ball in play; a hike.
14. •
    A card game, primarily for children, in which players cry "snap" to claim pairs of matching cards as they are turned up.
15. •
    A thin circular cookie or similar baked good.
16. •
    Briskness; vigour; energy; decision.
17. •
    A crisp or pithy quality; epigrammatic point or force.
18. •
    (informal) Clipping of Snapchat (“user account on Snapchat”).

    • “Can we exchange info or something? Maybe we can meet up tomorrow.” “Sure, my Snap is NoWaySims.” “That sounds like a fake account,” Ty said. — 2022
19. •
    (informal) Clipping of Snapchat (“user account on Snapchat”).

    • “[…] What’s your snap?” she asks. “Oh here.” He jerks for his phone not trying to test her patience or invitation. They trade info. “Cool,” she comments and memorizes his username. — 2017
20. •
    The sudden release of something held under pressure or tension.
21. •
    (UK) A small meal, a snack; lunch.

    • When I went to put my coat on at snap time, what should go runnin' up my arm but a mouse. — 1913
22. •
    A snap bean such as Phaseolus vulgaris.
23. •
    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
24. •
    (informal) Something of no value.
25. •
    (slang) An insult of the kind used in the African-American verbal game of the dozens.
26. •
    A subgenre of hip-hop music derived from crunk.

    • Snap is another music style that came out of Atlanta. Snap is an early- to mid-2000s hip hop style derived from crunk. — 2019
27. •
    A quick offhand shot with a firearm; a snap shot.
28. •
    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.

    • He's a nimble fellow, / And alike skill'd in every liberal science, / As having certain snaps of all. — 1625
29. •
    A package provided for the application sandboxing system snapd developed by Canonical.
30. •
    A snapper, or snap beetle.
31. •
    (informal) A rivet: a scrapbooking embellishment.
32. •
    (humorous) jounce (the fourth derivative of the position vector with respect to time), followed by crackle and pop
33. •
    A tool used by riveters.
34. •
    A tool used by glass-moulders.
35. •
    (slang, old-fashioned) A brief theatrical engagement.
36. •
    (slang, old-fashioned) A cheat or sharper.
37. •
    (slang, no longer used) Any circumstance out of which money may be made or an advantage gained. used primarily in the phrase soft snap.

    • 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
38. •
    (no longer used) A greedy fellow.

    • up rises a Cunning Snap, then at the Board, who desir'd to be Inform'd — 1692

exclamation5

1. •
   The cry used in a game of snap when winning a hand.
2. •
   (UK, Australia) "I've got one the same!", "Me too!"

   • Snap! We've both got pink buckets and spades.
3. •
   (UK, Australia) Used after something is said by two people at exactly the same time.

   • —Wasn't that John? —Wasn't that John? —Snap!
4. •
   (US, Canada) Used in place of an 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. •
   (UK) Used to express agreement.

adjective[before a noun]1

1. •
   Done, made, performed, etc., quickly and unexpectedly, or without deliberation.

   • Now I should consider it a very snap judgment or a snap diagnosis for anybody to come into a medical society — 1889

noun2

1. •
   Acronym of soluble NSF attachment protein.
2. •
   Acronym of S-nitroso-N-acetylpenicillamine.