# snap

> English word · Noun · IPA /snæp/ · frequency rank #5,084

## Definitions
1. A quick breaking or cracking sound or the action of producing such a sound.
2. A sudden break.
3. An attempt to seize, bite, attack, or grab.
4. The act of snapping the fingers; making a sound by pressing a finger against the thumb and suddenly releasing to strike the hand.
5. A fastening device that makes a snapping sound when used.
6. A photograph; a snapshot.
7. The sudden release of something held under pressure or tension.
8. A thin circular cookie or similar baked good.
9. A brief, sudden period of a certain weather; used primarily in the phrase cold snap.
10. 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.
11. A snap bean such as Phaseolus vulgaris.
12. A backward pass or handoff of a football from its position on the ground that puts the ball in play; a hike.
13. A rivet: a scrapbooking embellishment.
14. A small device resembling a safety pin, used to attach the bait or lure to the line.
15. A small meal, a snack; lunch.
16. A card game, primarily for children, in which players cry "snap" to claim pairs of matching cards as they are turned up.
17. A greedy fellow.
18. 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.
19. Briskness; vigour; energy; decision.
20. Any circumstance out of which money may be made or an advantage gained. used primarily in the phrase soft snap.
21. Something that is easy or effortless.
22. A snapper, or snap beetle.
23. jounce (the fourth derivative of the position vector with respect to time), followed by crackle and pop
24. A quick offhand shot with a firearm; a snap shot.
25. Something of no value.
26. Alternative letter-case form of Snap.
27. Alternative letter-case form of Snap.
28. A package provided for the application sandboxing system snapd developed by Canonical.
29. A crisp or pithy quality; epigrammatic point or force.
30. A tool used by riveters.
31. A tool used by glass-moulders.
32. A brief theatrical engagement.
33. A cheat or sharper.
34. A newsflash.
35. An insult of the kind used in the African-American verbal game of the dozens.
36. A subgenre of hip-hop music derived from crunk.

## Etymology
From Dutch snappen (“to bite; seize”) or Low German snappen (“to bite; seize”), ultimately from Proto-West Germanic *snappōn, from Proto-Germanic *snappōną (“to snap; snatch; chatter”), intensive form of *snapāną (”to snap; grab”, whence Old Norse snapa (“to get; scrounge”)), from Proto-Indo-European *snop-; compare Lithuanian snãpas (“beak, bill”). (One alternative hypothesis links the Germanic words to *snu-, an expressive root deriving words meaning “nose”, “snout”, “sniff” etc., but this is phonetically unsound.) In any case influenced by onomatopoeia; note expressions such as snip-snap, containing the formally unrelated snip.
Cognate with West Frisian snappe (“to get; catch; snap”), German schnappen (“to grab”), Swedish snappa (“to snatch”).
The verb is derived from the noun.

## Easily confused with
- **SP** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/snap-vs-sp)
- **spa** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/snap-vs-spa)
- **SNP** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/snap-vs-snp)
- **sup** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/snap-vs-sup)
- **STA** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/snap-vs-sta)
- **SNL** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/snap-vs-snl)
- **sop** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/snap-vs-sop)
- **SoA** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/snap-vs-soa)
- **SSA** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/snap-vs-ssa)
- **Snr** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/snap-vs-snr)
- **SNS** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/snap-vs-sns)
- **STP** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/snap-vs-stp)
- **SVP** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/snap-vs-svp)
- **stop** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/snap-vs-stop)
- **stay** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/snap-vs-stay)
- **star** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/snap-vs-star)
- **snow** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/snap-vs-snow)
- **soap** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/snap-vs-soap)
- **soup** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/snap-vs-soup)
- **span** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/snap-vs-span)

## Common misspellings (6)
`nsap`, `sanp`, `snapp`, `snnap`, `snpa`, `ssnap`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/snap