Snap

Snap, snap, v.t. to break short or at once: to bite, or catch at suddenly: to crack: to interrupt sharply (often with up): to shut with a sharp sound: to take an instantaneous photograph of, esp. with a hand camera.—v.i. to break short: to try to bite: to utter sharp words (with at): to flash:—pr.p. snap′ping; pa.t. and pa.p. snapped.—n. act of snapping, or the noise made by it: a small catch or lock: a hasty repast, a snack: a crack, the spring-catch of a bracelet, &c., an earring: a crisp kind of gingerbread nut or cake: crispness, pithiness, epigrammatic point or force: vigour, energy: (slang) a brief theatrical engagement, an easy and profitable place or task: a sharper, a cheat: a riveter's tool, also a glass-moulder's tool: the act of taking a snapshot.—adj. sudden, unpremeditated, without preparation.—ns. Snap′dragon, a plant, so called because the lower lip of the corolla when parted shuts with a snap like a dragon's jaw: a Christmas pastime in which raisins are snatched out of a dish in which brandy is burning, in a room otherwise dark—also the raisins so taken; Snap′per; Snap′per-up (Shak.), one who snaps up; Snap′ping-tur′tle, a large fresh-water tortoise of the United States—from its habit of snapping at things.—adjs. Snap′pish, Snap′py, inclined to snap: eager to bite: sharp in reply.—adv. Snap′pishly, in a snappish manner: peevishly: tartly.—ns. Snap′pishness; Snap′shot, an instantaneous photograph. [Dut. snappen, to snap; Ger. schnappen.]