Meaning

23 senses

  1. (intransitive, transitive)To fracture or break apart suddenly.

    He snapped his stick in anger.

    If you bend it too much, it will snap.

    abbrechen

    лома́тьlomátʹ, слома́тьslomátʹ, лома́тьсяlomátʹsja

    break suddenly and abruptly, as under tension

  2. (intransitive)To give forth or produce a sharp cracking noise; to crack.

    Blazing firewood snaps.

    krachen

    щёлкатьščólkatʹ, щёлкнутьščólknutʹ

  3. (intransitive)To attempt to seize or bite with the teeth, beak, etc.

    A dog snaps at a passenger. A fish snaps at the bait.

    zuschnappen

    ца́патьcápatʹ, ца́пнутьcápnutʹ

  4. (intransitive)To attempt to seize with eagerness.

    She snapped at the chance to appear on television.

    schnappen

  5. (intransitive)To speak abruptly or sharply.

    He snapped at me for the slightest mistake.

    blaffen

    ря́вкатьrjávkatʹ, ря́вкнутьrjávknutʹ, огрыза́тьсяogryzátʹsja

    separate or cause to separate abruptly

  6. (intransitive)To give way abruptly and loudly.

    zerreißen

  7. (intransitive)To suffer a mental breakdown, usually while under tension.

    She should take a break before she snaps.

    durchdrehen, ausrasten, überschnappen

    сорваться

  8. (intransitive)To flash or appear to flash as with light.

    aufblitzen

  9. (intransitive)To fit or fasten together with a snapping sound.

    zusammenschnappen, zuschnappen

    move with a snapping sound

  10. (intransitive)To jump to a fixed position relative to another element.

    The floating toolbar will snap to the edge of the screen when dragged towards it.

  11. (transitive)To snatch with or as if with the teeth.

    beißen, zuschnappen

    ца́патьcápatʹ, ца́пнутьcápnutʹ

  12. (transitive)To pull apart with a snapping sound; to pop loose.

    abreißen

    cause to make a snapping sound

Examples

226 sentences

  1. The cable snapped.

    Кабель обірвався. — Ahha

    Hybrid · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FR · B2Open on TatoebaReport a problem

  2. The dog snapped up the meat.

    CK · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FR · B2Open on TatoebaReport a problem

  3. I heard Tom snapping his fingers.

    ruЯ услышал, как Том щёлкнул пальцами. — Inego

    CK · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FR · B2Open on TatoebaReport a problem

  4. I didn't mean to snap at you.

    ruЯ не хотел на тебя набрасываться. — sharptoothed

    CK · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FR · B2Open on TatoebaReport a problem

  5. You've got to snap out of it.

    CK · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FR · B2Open on TatoebaReport a problem

Translations

7 languages
Русский
By meaning 5
transitive: to break apart suddenly or at once:
to give forth or produce a sharp cracking noise; to crack:
to attempt to seize with the teeth or bite:
to speak abruptly or sharply:
to suffer a mental breakdown:
Deutsch
By meaning 12
transitive: to break apart suddenly or at once:
to give forth or produce a sharp cracking noise; to crack:
to attempt to seize with the teeth or bite:
to attempt to seize with eagerness:
to speak abruptly or sharply:
to give way abruptly and loudly:
to suffer a mental breakdown:
to flash or appear to flash as with light:
intransitive: to fit or fasten together with a snapping sound:
to snatch with or like with the teeth:
to pull apart with a snapping sound:
to say abruptly or sharply:

Origin

From Dutch snappen (“to bite; seize”) or Low German snappen (“to bite; seize”), ultimately

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.

Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source

Forms

snaps, snapping, snapped, snapped
Base formsnap · to snap
3rd person singularsnaps
Present participlesnapping
Past simplesnapped
Past participlesnapped

regular

Present simpleLesson

I, you, we, theysnap
he, she, itsnaps

Past simpleLesson

all personssnapped

Present perfectLesson

I, you, we, theyhave snapped
he, she, ithas snapped

Future simple (will)Lesson

all personswill snap

Phrasal verbs

4 phrasal verbs

Synonyms

11 synonyms
Close in meaning
  • break suddenly and abruptly, as under tension:crack
  • utter in an angry, sharp, or abrupt tone:snarl
  • cause to make a snapping sound:clickflick
  • move or strike with a noise:click
  • make a sharp sound:crack
  • record on photographic film:photographshoot

Word family

28 related words
Relatedsnapper
Derivedantisnapfinger-snapoutsnapresnapsnamsnaparazzisnapbacksnap backsnapdragonsnapheadsnap insnap-in-one diapersnap-in-one nappysnaplinesnaplocksnap-onsnappablesnapping beetlesnapping shrimpsnapping turtlesnapshootersnapsuitsnap-the-whipsnap to

Lessons for this word

3 lessons

See also

neighbours in the dictionary
snailC1snakeA1snakessnappysnapshotsnare
snap — meaning, examples, forms, synonyms | Krumeto