snap (snap)

and a. [ He's a nimble fellow, And alike skilled in every liberal science, As having certain snaps of all. B. Jonson, Staple of News, i. 2. 2. An eager bite; a sudden seizing or effort to seize, as with the teeth: as, the snap of a dog. -3. A slight or hurried repast; a snack. He had sat down to two hearty meals that might have been mistaken for dinners if he had not declared them to George Eliot , Janet's Repentance, i. be snaps. 4. A sudden breaking or parting of something brittle or tense: as, the snap of gla . Let us hear The snap of chain-links. Whittier, To Ronge. 5. A sharp cracking sound; a crack: as, the snap of a whip. Two succe ive snaps of an electric spark, when their interval was made as small as about 1/500 of a second. W. James, Prin. of Psychol., I. 613. 6. The spring-catch of a purse, reticule, book clasp, bracelet, and the like; also, a snap-hook and a top-snap.-7. A snap-bug or snapping beetle.-8. A crisp kind of gingerbread nut or small cake; a ginger-snap. I might shut up house, if it was the thing I lived by me that has seen a' our gentlefolk bairns, and gi'en them snaps and sugar-biscuit maist of them wi' my ain hand: Scott , St. Ronan's Well, ii. 9. Crispne ; pithine ; epigrammatic force: said of verbal expre ion. [Colloq.] The vigorous vernacular, the pithy phrase of the Yankee farmer, gave zest and snap to many a paragraph. G. S. Merriam, S. Bowles, II. 375. 10. Vigor; energy; briskne ; life: as, the heat took all the snap out of me. [Colloq.] When the curtain rose on the second act, the outside of "Oak Hall," there was an enormous amount of applause, and that act went with the most perfect snap. Lester Wallack , Scribner's Mag., IV. 722. 11. A position, piece of work, etc., that is pleasant, easy, and remunerative. [Slang.] -12. A brief engagement. [Theatrical slang.] Actors and actre es who have just come in from "summer snaps " to prepare for the work of the coming season. Freund, Music and Drama, XIV. xvi. 3. 13. An ear-ring: so called from being snapped or clasped with a spring-catch. A pair of diamond snaps in her ears. Richardson, Clari a Harlowe, III. 29. (Davies.) snap a whip. IMG:content-1393.png:[blocks in formation] To snap back, in foot - ball, to put (the ball) in play, as is done by the snap-back or center rusher by pushing it with the foot to the quarter-back. To snap off. (a) To break off suddenly: as, to snap off the handle of a cup. (b) To bite off suddenly: often used humorously to expre a sudden attack with sharp or angry words: as, speak quietly, don't snap my head off. We had like to have had our two noses snapped off with two old men without teeth. Shak., Much Ado, v. 1. 116. Hall i well. [Prov. Eng.] To snap the eye, to wink. II. in trans. 1. To make a snatch; do any thing hastily; especially, to catch eagerly at a proposal, offer, or opportunity; accept gladly and promptly: with at : as, to snap at the chance. -2. To make an effort to bite; aim to seize with the teeth: usually with at . We snap at the bait without ever dreaming of the hook that goes along with it. Sir R. L'Estrange. 3. To utter sharp, harsh, or petulant words: usually with at . To be anxious about a soul that is always snapping at you must be left to the saints of the earth. George Eliot, Middle march, xxxiii. Take heed of a snap, sir; h' 'as a cozening countenance: I do not like his way. Fletcher, Spanish Curate, ii. 1. 15. In music, same as Scotch snap (which see, under Scotch1 ).-16. A gla -molding tool, used for shaping the feet of goblets, and similar work. 17. A riveters' tool for finishing the heads of rivets symmetrically. -18. An oyster of the most inferior quality marketable. [Maryland.] -19t. Same as cloyer. - 20. The act of taking an instantaneous photograph with a camera. [Colloq.] Our appearance, however, attracted shots from all quarters. Fellows took snaps at us from balconies, from doors, on the roofs of houses. W. H. Ru ell, Diary in India, I. 346. A cold snap, a sudden brief spell of severely cold weather. [Colloq.] A soft snap, an easy, pleasant position; a good berth or situation; light duty; a sinecure: as, he has rather a soft snap. [Slang, U. S.] - Not to care a snap, to care little or nothing (about something). [Colloq.]-Not worth a snap, worthle or nearly so. [Colloq.]-Scotch snap. See Scotch1. II. a . Sudden or quick, like a snap; done, made, etc., hastily, on the spur of the moment, or without preparation. [Colloq.] He is too proud and lofty to ever have recourse to the petty trickeries and snap judgments of the minnows of his noble profe ion. Harper's Mag., LXXVII. 800. The previous a ent of the Chair to the motion for closure would prevent snap divisions, by which conceivably a debate might be prematurely brought to an end. Nineteenth Century , XXIII. 252. A snap shot, a quick shot taken at a bird when rising or pa ing, or at an animal which is seen only for a moment; an offhand shot; also, a snap-shooter. IMG:content-1394.png:[blocks in formation] the mechanism of a hinged barrel which, when shut, is closed by a spring-catch: distinguished from lever - action.