the stem of SNAP v. in combination, as snap action gun (see quot. 1884); so snap-actioned ppl. a.; snap-apple (see quot. 1823); † snap-bag, = SNAPSACK; snap-bean U.S. (see SNAP sb. 18); snap-beetle, a click-beetle (cf. CLICK sb.1 4); snap-block Naut. (see quot. 1884); snap-bug, = snap-beetle; snap-cap (see quot. 1876); snap-dog, local, a lurcher; snap-dyke Sc. (see quots.); † snap-fig, = BECCAFICO; snap-flask (see quot. 1875); snap-jack, dial. the stitchwort; snap-plough, local (see quots.); † snap-rod (see quot.); snap-sound Path., a snapping sound heard in auscultation; snap-thought attrib., used for noting ideas as they occur; snap-tree, -weed (see quots.); snap-willow, local, the brittle or crack willow, Salix fragilis; snapwood (see quot.).
Other examples of this type occur in recent use, esp. dial. or U.S. Similar formations are also employed in Dutch and German.
1882. Worc. Exhib. Catal., III. 56. Top lever *snap action gun.
1884. Knight, Dict. Mech., Suppl. 826/1. Snap Action.… As distinguished from a lever gun; one which as the hinged barrel closes is fastened by a spring catch.
1875. ‘Stonehenge,’ Brit. Rural Sports, I. I. ii. 26. Patents for slight modifications of this *snap-actioned ‘central fire.’
1823. E. Moor, Suffolk Words, *Snap Apple. A mirth exciting frolic; in which catching, or rather not catching, an apple in your mouth, while twirling on a stick suspended on its centre, with a candle at the other end of it, is the je[s]t of the sport.
1870. Routledge’s Ev. Boy’s Ann., Oct., 583. Who’s for snap-apple?
1688. R. Holme, Armoury, III. xiv. (Roxb.), 17/2. The Port Mantle, of some termed a Bugett, or Snapsack, or *Snapbag.
1870. Lanier, Poems, Nine from Eight, 48. Hit gobbled me up like *snap-beans.
1897. J. B. Carrington, in Outing, XXX. 383/2. The supper consisted of fried ham and snap-beans, enormous soda biscuits, and muddy-looking coffee.
1698. Petiver, in Phil. Trans., XX. 397. A peculiar species. I have seen in England, and call *Snap-Beetles, from their elastick or springing Faculty. Ibid. (1702), Gazophyl., I. § 10. The Velvet-eyed Virginia Snap-Beetle.
1889. G. Nicholson, Dict. Gard., IV. 213. The names … Click Beetle and Snap Beetle refer to the sound produced in the leap.
1626. Capt. Smith, Accid. Yng. Sea-men, 15. A *snap blocke is seldom vsed but in heauing of goods and ordnances.
1884. Knight, Dict. Mech., Suppl. 826/1. Snap Block.… A block with an opening in the side at which the rope may be laid in the sheave without the trouble of reeving it in.
1834. McMurtrie, Cuvier’s Anim. Kingd., 350. E[later] noctilucus...; dusky brown, with a cinereous down…. North America is extremely rich in this genus. The insect is usually called a *Snap-bug.
1844. Queen’s Regul. & Ord. Army, 96, note. Muzzle-Stoppers, *Snap-Caps.
1876. Voyle & Stevenson, Milit. Dict., 391. Snap-cap—A small leather cylinder with a metal top of the size of the hammer of a percussion musket, and fitting closely to the nipple.
1877. N.-W. Linc. Gloss., 230. *Snap-dog, a half-bred greyhound.
1891. Pall Mall Gaz., 23 Dec., 6/3. Rabbit Coursing Sweepstakes for so many ‘snap-dogs.’
1793. Statist. Acc. Scotland, VI. 104. A kind of stone fence, called *Snap-dykes, peculiar to Carrick and the north parts of Galloway, is admirably fitted for sheep parks; being from 4 to 6 feet in height, strong and firmly locked together at the top.
1812. Sir J. Sinclair, Syst. Husb. Scot., I. 42. Among the various sorts of stone wall usual in Scotland, there is one, known under the name of the Galloway or snap dike.
1603. Florio, Montaigne, III. xiii. (1894), 565. The dainty bird beccafico or *snapfig deserveth to bee eaten whole at one morsell.
1875. Knight, Dict. Mech., 2229/1. *Snap-flask.… A two-part flask having its halves joined together by a butt-hinge at one corner and a latch at the diagonally opposite corner.
1884. C. G. W. Lock, Workshop Rec., Ser. III. 252/1. Most malleable castings are … moulded in snap-flasks.
1867. Rock, Jim an’ Nell, xlix. (E. D. S.). Whit-zindays, *snap-jacks, goosey-vlops.
1894. Beatrice Whitby, Mary Fenwick’s Daughter, I. 57. Bird’s-eye and snap-jack, ragged robin and hemlock.
1798. J. Middleton, View Agric. M’sex, 91. A swing turn-wrest plough … in which the wrest is moved in half the usual time…. This farmer calls them *snap ploughs.
1875. W. D. Parish, Dict. Sussex Dial., 108. Snap-plough, a plough with two wings, so fixed as to snap or move from one side to the other, though only one projects at a time.
1688. R. Holme, Armoury, III. 103. A Snapper, or *Snap-Rod, is a strong Pole, peculiar for a Pike.
1898. Allbutt’s Syst. Med., V. 1021. The *snap sound and the thrill may be observed in some cardiac cycles.
1738. Weddell, Voy. Thames, 83. Taking every Opportunity to put down Notes in his *Snap-thought Leger.
c. 1711. Petiver, Gazophyl., X. § 91. Luzone Adhatoda or *Snap-tree with a Jasmin Flower.
1731. Miller, Gard. Dict., s.v. Adhatoda, The Willow-leav’d Malabar Nut, commonly call’d, The Snap-tree.
1823. Crabb, Technol. Dict., Snap-tree, Justicia hyssopifolia. Ibid., *Snapweed, Impatiens.
1899. E. Step, Romance Wild Fl., 135. The handsome Jewel-weed, or Snap-weed (I[mpatiens] fulva).
1880. Jefferies, Gt. Estate, 87. The *‘snap-willow,’ which is so brittle that every gale breaks off its feeble twigs.
1808. Vancouver, View Agric. Hants. (1813), xii. § 4. 389. A claim … of taking what is called *snap-wood, that is all the fallen branches, and such as they can snap off by hand.
b. In the names of things or appliances operating, closing, fastening, fitting, etc., with a snap or by means of a catch, as snap-bolt, -catch, -gun, -harness, etc.
1875. ‘Stonehenge,’ Brit. Rural Sports, I. I. ii. 33. Mr. W. W. Greener’s is also a good *snap-bolt.
1880. Encycl. Brit., XI. 285/2. The breech is closed sharply on the hinge and is held by a *snap-catch.
1644. Sc. Acts, Chas. I. (1870), VI. 65. Their foote men haveing *snap gunnes and suordis sall have the pay of foote souldiers.
1881. Greener, Gun, 206. [Mr. Needham’s] first snap gun … was so constructed that upon depressing the lever for opening the gun, the hammers were raised to half-cock.
1888. Daily News, 3 Dec., 3/5. The *snap harness which enables the horses to be harnessed in less than ten seconds did not work properly, with the result that when the horses pranced forward, one of them was found to be free.
1875. Knight, Dict. Mech., 2229/2. *Snap-link. An open link with a spring, for the purpose of connecting parts of harness, chains, etc.
1775. G. White, Selborne, lxiii. *Snap mouse-traps baited with tallow or suet.
1886. C. Adams, in Longm. Mag., VII. 652. Years ago, an immense number of salmon used to be taken by means of these *snap-nets.
1897. Daily News, 23 March, 7/1. *Snap-purses, writing cases, pearl necklets.
1827. Carlyle, Germ. Rom., I. 99. A loud humming symphony of *snap-reel and spinning-wheel.
1903. Sci. Amer., 14 Feb., 110/3. These last [= packing rings] are called *‘snap rings,’ from the fact that they are sprung into the piston.
1875. Zoologist, X. 4662. Rats caught in *snap-traps.
1875. ‘Stonehenge,’ Brit. Rural Sports, I. I. ii. 36. The hook in which the *snap-wedge enters to keep the gun closed.
c. In combs. relating to or connected with the use of a snap-hook in fishing, as snap-angling [cf. G. schnappangel], -fishing; snap-bait, -tackle.
1792. Osbaldiston, Sportsman, 606. Snap-angling is with two large hooks tied back to back, and one smaller to fix your bait on.
1794. Sporting Mag., III. 247. The directions for snap-fishing.
1839. T. C. Hofland, Brit. Angler’s Man., v. 124. I generally resort to my snap-tackle.
1856. ‘Stonehenge,’ Brit. Rural Sports, I. V. iii. 254. Snap-fishing must be practised with the top joints of the rod reduced in length and of greater stiffness. Ibid., 257. The Snap-Bait is employed only when the fish are wary and inclined to eject the ordinary kind.
d. Formed, taken, performed, etc., hastily or rapidly, as snap exposure, -firing, judg(e)ment, etc. In this and the next group passing into adj.
1861. N. York Tribune, in Times, 19 Nov., 10/3. A traveller’s snap-judgment formed on the most superficial observation.
1876. Black, Madcap Violet, xxviii. After … a great deal of snap-firing, the skart was at last stretched on the water.
1889. Anthony’s Photogr. Bulletin, II. 255. For snap exposures a different course is necessary.
1894. Amer. Ann. Photogr., 137. The real necessities for snap photography.
e. In Parliamentary usage, as snap dissolution, division, vote, one obtained or taken unexpectedly or when comparatively few members are present.
1879. McCarthy, Own Times, xx. II. 96. It was evident that this was only what is called a ‘snap’ vote.
1884. Nonconformist, 7 Feb., 129/2. The majority was the result of a ‘snap division.’
1892. Rev. Reviews, V. 3/2. Administrations have tried by a snap dissolution … to capture a fresh majority.
