To close something quickly.

Also, the act of snapping one's fingers. This is accomplished by pressing the middle finger and thumb together, then jerking the thumb aside to allow the middle finger to strike the palm. Practice!

Also, something that is very easy.

Also, the act of a center putting the football in play from its position on the ground by quickly passing it between his legs to the quarterback.
Name of a card game suitable for the young, the bored and the restless. Take a set of cards consisting of pairs of cards (e.g., all the black cards of a deck, so you'd match the queen of spades to the queen of clubs), shuffle them, and place them face down on a surface. Each player then turns over one card, and then another. When a pair of matching cards is revealed, the player collects that pair; if the cards don't match, they are turned over again. The modification may come if the player has to shout ``snap'' to claim a revealed pair of cards. The game is won by the player with the most pairs when all the cards have been collected.

The solitaire version, without the shouting, has the goal of finding all the pairs with the least number of turns. A version of it can be found on some cellphones, including the Nokia 6188, which calls it ``Memory.''

This term is used in pool and billiards as an alternative to the word break. It is most often heard as part of the expression "on the snap".

During a recent pool tournament, The Midwest Nine Ball Tour, held at Shooter's in Olathe, KS many of the participants made the "nine on the snap". Unfortunately for them a few players scratched at the same time.

Onomatopoeia is the source for this word.

snail-mail = S = snarf

snap v.

To replace a pointer to a pointer with a direct pointer; to replace an old address with the forwarding address found there. If you telephone the main number for an institution and ask for a particular person by name, the operator may tell you that person's extension before connecting you, in the hopes that you will `snap your pointer' and dial direct next time. The underlying metaphor may be that of a rubber band stretched through a number of intermediate points; if you remove all the thumbtacks in the middle, it snaps into a straight line from first to last. See chase pointers.

Often, the behavior of a trampoline is to perform an error check once and then snap the pointer that invoked it so as henceforth to bypass the trampoline (and its one-shot error check). In this context one also speaks of `snapping links'. For example, in a LISP implementation, a function interface trampoline might check to make sure that the caller is passing the correct number of arguments; if it is, and if the caller and the callee are both compiled, then snapping the link allows that particular path to use a direct procedure-call instruction with no further overhead.

--Jargon File, autonoded by rescdsk (this entry noded by DrSeudo)

Beneath his fingers
The plastic cup
Deconstructs.

Snap. Snap. Snap.

Lips tight,
Eyes tense,
Concentration absolute.

Snap.

A drop of blood
Stains the puddle
Of water on the table.

Snap.

She shouldn't have
Said what she said,
Done what she did.

She shouldn't have walked away.

Snap.

He'll make her sorry.
Make her pay.
Make her.

Make her...

Snap.
A snap is also an insult, technically known as a 'dis.' In this respect, a snap is the singular form of The Dozens. This game, also known as Snapping the Dozens, is typically formed of two individuals snapping each other. In context: "Oh, snap...well, yo mama's so fat..." is the 'return fire' of a Dozens round; the speaker has acknowleged the point made by the previous insult and (in the same breath, lest he or she lose points for hesitation or having to think too long) gotten off a return. The phrase "Oh, snap!" could (at least in the 1970s and 1980s, dunno about now - izubachi informs me it is still in play, at least in the playgrounds of Midwestern America) also be heard on playgrounds as spectators reacted to a particularly impressive dis. In that sense, the user is emphasizing the severity of a dozens play (or other form of smackdown) by uttering the noun, emphasized; this is simliar to the weighted, satisfied use of the word "Touchdown!" at a football game, in quiet exultation.

For reference, as well as a knee-slappin' good time reminder of your playground days, read Snaps by James Percelay et al.(Quill Press, 1994). It's a collection of some of the best of them collected by topic - Mama, Sister, Sex, Fat, Ugly, etc.

An example opening round of the Dozens, with commentary:

"Man, you so stupid, you hadda ask for a price check at the 99-cent store!"

"Oh, snap...but you so stupid you gotta F in Romper room Coloring, yo."

[Ed.Note: Note the 'subject' has been chosen by the opener - Stupidity. This is a good, safe starter; it typically restricts insults to the recipient alone. At this point, in a 'expert' Dozens round, changing the 'subject' of the snaps carries meaning, and how it is done can display either strategy or desperation - and believe me, the crowd can tell.]

"Oh, snap...well, your family so stupid they think you smart!"

[Ed.: Tactical mistake! The snapper attempted the risky gambit of escalating to the 'family' level while not switching categories. This is double-or-nothing; it means accepting a restricted insult space (families) without broaching new subject matter (ugly, smelly, etc.) However, in this case, they were unable to complete a true snap in time, relying on the assumption of the opponent's stupidity. Since that's what's in contention at this point, it looks too much like 'declaring victory.']

"Ha, yeah, well they right, foo... [Ed.: Note the nullification of the previous shot, exploiting the tactical mistake; done swiftly enough to fit smoothly into the next insult, this is a coup. Relying on it to stand alone would be an indication of defeat!]...and anyway, you is so stupid you gotta read the directions on Minute Rice to see how long you gots to cook it."

[Ed.: A middling return shot. Done without hesitation, and coupled with the previous error, satisfactory, but short of true art. The other snapper, however, has used the extra second or two used during the acknowledgement of his or her initial error to think hard. Perhaps it was a tactical maneuver to buy those seconds?]

"Man, I'm amazed you can even read the box...[Ed.: Okay, it probably wasn't a strategy; the player is apparently using the obvious response to stall]...an' yo sister's so stupid, she got her first vibrator and cracked a tooth."

[Ed.: Play has been expanded. Sisters (explicit female relatives) are an escalation; bringing them into the game implies the insultee's inability to defend them, not just himself. One note, though: the Sex topic has been broached, but without actually performing a total subject switch. This is a good ploy, opening the Sex topic for play while not ceding the category to the other by an abrupt shift.]

"Oh, SNAP!....well finding yo' sister a Christmas card is easy, cuz so many addressed to 'Ho,ho,ho!'"

[Ed.: ...and so it goes, with an adept comeback which builds on the the previous shot's sister reference, upping the ante by folding sexual behavior into play. ]

This Pittsburgh male/female dance duo had a huge international smash in 1990 with "The Power." London-based rapper Turbo B and his cousin Jackie Harris teamed on "The Power," with Harris' curdling vocal elevating Turbo B's pedestrian rap. But by the time things got rolling, Harris was already gone, replaced by Pennye Ford, a former Gap Band background vocalist. Turbo B himself departed in 1992, shortly after their second Arista LP, The Madman's Return, hit the streets. He was replaced by Niki Harris, a former Madonna background vocalist. Snap had a second big hit in 1990 with the number five pop single "Rhythm Is a Dancer."

Discography (main albums)

  • The Snap! (1987)
  • We're All in the Same Game (1990)
  • The Madman's Return (1992)
  • Voice of America (1993)
  • World Power (1993)
  • The Essential Mix Show (1995)
  • Welcome to Tomorrow (1995)

Lots of information provided by mysic.com. Biography written by Ron Wynn.

SNAP is the acronym for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program in the U.S., AKA "food stamps." It's overseen by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which states:

SNAP offers nutrition assistance to millions of eligible, low-income individuals and families and provides economic benefits to communities. SNAP is the largest program in the domestic hunger safety net. The Food and Nutrition Service works with state agencies, nutrition educators, and neighborhood and faith-based organizations to ensure that those eligible for nutrition assistance can make informed decisions about applying for the program and can access benefits. FNS also works with state partners and the retail community to improve program administration and ensure program integrity.

To get SNAP benefits, you must apply in the state in which you currently live and you must meet certain requirements, including resource and income limits, which are described on this page

SNAP enrollment peaked in late 2012. In December of that year, 47.78 million people received benefits ranging from $1,169 for a household of eight to $194 a month for one person. Since then, enrollment has dropped.

SNAP and earlier food stamps programs have been a target of cost-cutting measures by conservative politicians for as long as I can remember. Those who propose doing away with the program often cite "welfare queen" stereotypes and promote the idea that the program is rife with fraud.

Statistically speaking, SNAP fraud is rare. It's more common at convenience stores than it is as grocery stores, but it's rare, and it has been decreasing in recent years due to improvements in the system. There was a 3.5% fraud rate in 2012, and in 2017 it was a little under 1.5%

Politicians are once again promoting plans aimed at reducing/eliminating/changing the program, and in response to the increased news coverage, there are people who work (or used to work) in grocery stores talking on social media about all the fraud they've seen.

Cashiers can be mistaken about what does and does not constitute fraud, and may take an unfairly judgmental view of legal transactions. Furthermore, fraud can be rare, but a cashier could still legitimately also remember seeing a lot of it.

Imagine a grocery store cashier checks out a customer every three minutes during an 8-hour shift. That's 160 people. Imagine that a quarter of those people are using SNAP benefits. That's 40 people. Going by the fraud statistics of 3.5% in 2012, that means that each day, it would be statistically likely that 1-2 of the SNAP users that cashier handled were doing something that cashier perceived as shady. 

So, that cashier would literally see fraud (or what he or she thinks is fraud) every day ... but the fraudulent transactions would still represent a low percentage of the people who are using SNAP.

Furthermore, people's brains are designed to remember negative events more clearly than positive or neutral ones. If a transaction angers that cashier, he or she is going to remember that incident far more clearly than the other 100+ transactions they handled.


Snap, sometimes also called jounce, is the technical term for a change in the change of the rate of an object's velocity.

Imagine that you are in an elevator moving smoothly upwards; the speed that it is moving is called its velocity. If it starts to speed up, this is its acceleration. Both of these are common terms that we understand intuitively even if we do not know the terms; sometimes things move, and sometimes they change speed.

But we also might notice when the elevator speeds up, and then suddenly jumps forward -- this is a change in the acceleration, known as the jerk. I am not making this up; this is what happens when scientists don't have a classical grounding in Latin. A snap is the next step up -- a change in the change in the acceleration. This is about the maximum of change that the average human can effectively process; at or immediately after this point, most people would simply say the ride is jerky, uneven, or simply nauseating. In order to capture this feeling, later changes in changes of acceleration have names of crackle and pop.

Another example of this would be jumping on a trampoline; when you are at the top of a jump your acceleration follows a smooth curve, 9.8 m/s/s, acted upon only by gravity (all later derivatives -- jerk and snap -- are zero). When your feet first touch the trampoline your acceleration changes; you are still moving downwards, but now there is a second factor influencing your acceleration -- negatively -- and this is measured as jerk. Then, if things go horrifically wrong and the trampoline bottoms out as your feet hit the floor, your acceleration changes again, and the sudden snap breaks your legs.

Of course, a more complex and less painful example would be a roller coaster, in which acceleration changes over multiple axis many times; the ride's twists and jerks and drops are primarily jerk, but snap adds a little bit of extra fun. However, combining forces in this way can be dangerous, so ride designers have to be very careful not to have too many forces acting in too many directions all at once.

Jerk and snap are most likely to be a matter of concern when things are moving fast or strong forces are involved, as in rocket launches, cams and pistons, and pretty much any equipment in the machine shop. Vibration is a indicator that jerk and snap are present, as acceleration itself should not cause any vibration -- a constant load does not interfere with itself, and therefore there are no interference waves.

Just as acceleration is symbolized as 'a' in equations, and jerk is symbolized 'j', snap is symbolized 's'.


Source: IOPScience.iop.org: European Journal of Physics: Beyond velocity and acceleration: jerk, snap and higher derivatives by David Eager, Ann-Marie Pendrill, and Nina Reistad, published 13 October 2016.

Snap (?), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Snapped (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Snapping.] [LG. or D. snappen to snap up, to snatch; akin to G. schnappen, MHG. snaben, Dan. snappe, and to D. snavel beak, bill. Cf. Neb, Snaffle, n.]

1.

To break at once; to break short, as substances that are brittle.

Breaks the doors open, snaps the locks.
Prior.

2.

To strike, to hit, or to shut, with a sharp sound.

3.

To bite or seize suddenly, especially with the teeth.

He, by playing too often at the mouth of death, has been snapped by it at last.
South.

4.

To break upon suddenly with sharp, angry words; to treat snappishly; -- usually with up. Granville.

5.

To crack; to cause to make a sharp, cracking noise; as, to snap a whip.

MacMorian snapped his fingers repeatedly.
Sir W. Scott.

6.

To project with a snap.

To snap back (Football), to roll the ball back with the foot; -- done only by the center rush, who thus delivers the ball to the quarter back on his own side when both sides are ranged in line. --
To snap off.
(a) To break suddenly.
(b) To bite off suddenly.

 

© Webster 1913


Snap, v. i.

1.

To break short, or at once; to part asunder suddenly; as, a mast snaps; a needle snaps.

But this weapon will snap short, unfaithful to the hand that employs it.
Burke.

2.

To give forth, or produce, a sharp, cracking noise; to crack; as, blazing firewood snaps.

3.

To make an effort to bite; to aim to seize with the teeth; to catch eagerly (at anything); -- often with at; as, a dog snapsat a passenger; a fish snaps at the bait.

4.

To utter sharp, harsh, angry words; -- often with at; as, to snap at a child.

5.

To miss fire; as, the gun snapped.

 

© Webster 1913


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.

 

© Webster 1913


Snap (?), v. t. (Cricket)

To catch out sharply (a batsman who has just snicked a bowled ball).

 

© Webster 1913


Snap, v. i.

Of the eyes, to emit sudden, brief sparkles like those of a snapping fire, as sometimes in anger.

 

© Webster 1913


Snap, n.

1.

Any task, labor, set of circumstances, or the like, that yields satisfactory results or gives pleasure with little trouble or effort, as an easy course of study, a job where work is light, a bargain, etc. [Slang, Chiefly U. S.]

2.

A snap shot with a firearm.

3. (Photog.)

A snapshot.

4.

Something of no value; as, not worth a snap. [Colloq.]

 

© Webster 1913


Snap, a.

Done, performed, made, executed, carried through, or the like, quickly and without deliberation; as, a snap judgment or decision; a snap political convention. [Colloq.]

 

© Webster 1913

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