Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913

Snap

Snap , transitive verb

[LG. or Dutch snappen to snap up, to snatch; akin to German schnappen, Middle High German snaben, Danish snappe, and to Dutch snavel beak, bill. Compare Neb, Snaffle, n.]

1.
To break at once; to break short, as substances that are brittle.
Breaks the doors open, snaps the locks. — Prior
2.
To strike, to hit, or to shut, with a sharp sound.
3.
To bite or seize suddenly, especially with the teeth.
He, by playing too often at the mouth of death, has been snapped by it at last. — South
4.
To break upon suddenly with sharp, angry words; to treat snappishly; -- usually with up. — Granville
5.
To crack; to cause to make a sharp, cracking noise; as, to snap a whip.
MacMorian snapped his fingers repeatedly. — Sir W. Scott
6.
To project with a snap.
7.
(Cricket) To catch out sharply (a batsman who has just snicked a bowled ball).
Collocations (2)
To snap back (Football) , to roll the ball back with the foot; -- done only by the center rush, who thus delivers the ball to the quarter back on his own side when both sides are ranged in line.
To snap off , (a) To break suddenly (b) To bite off suddenly.

Snap , intransitive verb

1.
To break short, or at once; to part asunder suddenly; as, a mast snaps; a needle snaps.
But this weapon will snap short, unfaithful to the hand that employs it. — Burke
2.
To give forth, or produce, a sharp, cracking noise; to crack; as, blazing firewood snaps.
3.
To make an effort to bite; to aim to seize with the teeth; to catch eagerly (at anything); -- often with at; as, a dog snapsat a passenger; a fish snaps at the bait.
4.
To utter sharp, harsh, angry words; -- often with at; as, to snap at a child.
5.
To miss fire; as, the gun snapped.
6.
Of the eyes, to emit sudden, brief sparkles like those of a snapping fire, as sometimes in anger.

Snap , noun

[Compare Dutch snap a snatching. See Snap, transitive verb]

1.
A sudden breaking or rupture of any substance.
2.
A sudden, eager bite; a sudden seizing, or effort to seize, as with the teeth.
3.
A sudden, sharp motion or blow, as with the finger sprung from the thumb, or the thumb from the finger.
4.
A sharp, abrupt sound, as that made by the crack of a whip; as, the snap of the trigger of a gun.
5.
A greedy fellow. — L'Estrange
6.
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 skilled in every liberal science, As having certain snaps of all. — B. Jonson
7.
A sudden severe interval or spell; -- applied to the weather; as, a cold snap. — Lowell
8.
A small catch or fastening held or closed by means of a spring, or one which closes with a snapping sound, as the catch of a bracelet, necklace, clasp of a book, etc.
9.
(Zoology) A snap beetle.
10.
A thin, crisp cake, usually small, and flavored with ginger; -- used chiefly in the plural.
11.
Briskness; vigor; energy; decision. [Colloquial]
12.
Any circumstance out of which money may be made or an advantage gained. [Slang]
13.
Any task, labor, set of circumstances, or the like, that yields satisfactory results or gives pleasure with little trouble or effort, as an easy course of study, a job where work is light, a bargain, etc. [Slang, Chiefly United States]
14.
A snap shot with a firearm.
15.
(Photography) A snapshot.
16.
Something of no value; as, not worth a snap. [Colloquial]
17.
(Football) The action of snapping the ball back, from the center usu. to the quarterback, which commences the play (down), and, if the clock had stopped, restarts the timer clock; a snap back.
Collocations (7)
Snap back (Football) , the act of snapping back the ball.
Snap beetle or Snap bug (Zoology) , any beetle of the family Elateridae, which, when laid on its back, is able to leap to a considerable height by means of a thoracic spring; -- called also snapping beetle.
Snap flask (Molding) , a flask for small work, having its sides separable and held together by latches, so that the flask may be removed from around the sand mold.
Snap judgment , a judgment formed on the instant without deliberation.
Snap lock , a lock shutting with a catch or snap.
Snap riveting , riveting in which the rivets have snapheads formed by a die or swaging tool.
Snap shot , a quick offhand shot, without deliberately taking aim.

Snap , adjective

Done, performed, made, executed, carried through, or the like, quickly and without deliberation; as, a snap judgment or decision; a snap political convention. [Colloquial]