| snap | 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. 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. 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. 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. <zoology> A snap beetle. 10. A thin, crisp cake, usually small, and flavored with ginger; used chiefly in the plural. 11. Briskness; vigor; energy; decision. 12. Any circumstance out of which money may be made or an advantage gained. Snap back, 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. Origin: Cf. D. Snap a snatching. See Snap. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
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| snap finger | An affection in which the movement of the finger is arrested for a moment in flexion or extension and then continues with a jerk. Synonym: jerk finger, lock finger, snap finger, spring finger, stuck finger. (05 Mar 2000) |
| closing contraction | Contraction produced at the time of closing of the circuit when using direct current to stimulate the muscle. (05 Mar 2000) |
| closing membranes | Thin sheets, composed of ectoderm externally and endoderm internally, which separate the pharyngeal pouches from the overlying branchial clefts in the early embryo. Synonym: pharyngeal membranes. (05 Mar 2000) |
| closing volume | The lung volume at which the dependent lung zones cease to ventilate presumably as a result of airway closure. (12 Dec 1998) |