Part 514

5. To miss fire; as, the gun snapped.

Snap, n. [Cf. D. snap a snatching. See Snap, v. t.] 1. A sudden breaking or rupture of any substance.

2. A sudden, eager bite; a sudden seizing, or effort to seize, as with the teeth.

3. A sudden, sharp motion or blow, as with the finger sprung from the thumb, or the thumb from the finger.

4. A sharp, abrupt sound, as that made by the crack of a whip; as, the snap of the trigger of a gun.

5. A greedy fellow. L'Estrange.

6. 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.

He's a nimble fellow, And alike skilled in every liberal science, As having certain snaps of all.

B. Jonson.

7. A sudden severe interval or spell; -- applied to the weather; as, a cold snap. Lowell.

8. A small catch or fastening held or closed by means of a spring, or one which closes with a snapping sound, as the catch of a bracelet, necklace, clasp of a book, etc.

9. (Zoöl.) A snap beetle.

10. A thin, crisp cake, usually small, and flavored with ginger; -- used chiefly in the plural.

11. Briskness; vigor; energy; decision. [Colloq.]

12. Any circumstance out of which money may be made or an advantage gained. [Slang]

Snap back (Football), the act of snapping back the ball. -- Snap beetle, or Snap bug (Zoöl.), any beetle of the family Elateridæ, which, when laid on its back, is able to leap to a considerable height by means of a thoracic spring; -- called also snapping beetle. -- Snap flask (Molding), a flask for small work, having its sides separable and held together by latches, so that the flask may be removed from around the sand mold. -- Snap judgment, a judgment formed on the instant without deliberation. -- Snap lock, a lock shutting with a catch or snap. -- Snap riveting, riveting in which the rivets have snapheads formed by a die or swaging tool. -- Snap shot, a quick offhand shot, without deliberately taking aim.

Snap"drag`on (?), n. 1. (Bot.) (a) Any plant of the scrrophulariaceous genus Antirrhinum, especially the cultivated A. majus, whose showy flowers are fancifully likened to the face of a dragon. (b) A West Indian herb (Ruellia tuberosa) with curiously shaped blue flowers.

2. A play in which raisins are snatched from a vessel containing burning brandy, and eaten; also, that which is so eaten. See Flapdragon. Swift.

Snape (?), v. t. (Shipbuilding) To bevel the end of a timber to fit against an inclined surface.

Snap"hance` (?), n. [D. snaphaan a gun, originally, the snapping cock of a gun. See Snap, and Hen.] 1. A spring lock for discharging a firearm; also, the firearm to which it is attached. [Obs.]

2. A trifling or second-rate thing or person. [Obs.]

Snap"head` (?), n. A hemispherical or rounded head to a rivet or bolt; also, a swaging tool with a cavity in its face for forming such a rounded head.

Snap"per (?), n. 1. One who, or that which, snaps; as, a snapper up of trifles; the snapper of a whip.

2. (Zoöl.) Any one of several species of large sparoid food fishes of the genus Lutjanus, abundant on the southern coasts of the United States and on both coasts of tropical America.

The red snapper (Lutjanus aya, or Blackfordi) and the gray, or mangrove, snapper (L. griseus) are large and abundant species. The name is loosely applied to various other fishes, as the bluefish, the rosefish, the red grouper, etc. See Rosefish.

3. (Zoöl.) A snapping turtle; as, the alligator snapper.

4. (Zoöl.) The green woodpecker, or yaffle.

5. (Zoöl.) A snap beetle.