Snap

How to spell snap

4 letters · 1 syllable

How to pronounce snap

What does snap mean?

1. verbTo break suddenly with a sharp sound, or to move or act with a quick, sharp motion.
2. nounA sudden sharp sound or movement, or a fastener that closes with a click.
3. adjectiveDone quickly and without careful thought or preparation.

Snap in a sentence

• verb

  Dry twigs snap easily when you step on them.

• noun

  The branch broke with a loud snap that echoed through the woods.

• adjective

  The board regretted making such a snap decision under pressure.

• verb

  The cheap plastic clip will snap if you bend it too far.

• noun

  A metal snap holds the jacket closed at the collar.

• adjective

  A snap judgement about a stranger is often wrong.

Where does snap come from?

Language of origin: Dutch

Snap entered English in the late 1400s and early 1500s, most likely from the Middle Dutch or Low German word 'snappen', meaning 'to seize, bite, or grab suddenly'. The earliest English uses described a dog quickly closing its jaws, and the word's clipped, abrupt sound mirrors the action it names, making it a good example of imitative or echoic word-building. From that idea of a sudden bite, the meaning spread outward to anything that breaks cleanly with a sharp crack, to a quick fastening that clicks shut, and later to a brief, instantly taken photograph (the 'snapshot'). The same root survives in related Germanic words such as Dutch 'snappen' and German 'schnappen', and even in 'snack', which once meant a quick bite of food. Because the spelling is short and phonetically regular, the word has stayed remarkably stable and easy to write since it first appeared.

How the word is built

• snap (imitative root suggesting a quick, sharp action or sound)