Link Centre Dictionary

snag

UK/snaɡ/ US/snæɡ/ uncommon informal obsolete slang uk
verb (3) noun (4)

verb

1.

catch on a snag

  • “I snagged my stocking”
2.

get by acting quickly and smartly

  • “snag a bargain”
3.

noun

1.
2.

a dead tree that is still standing, usually in an undisturbed forest

  • “a snag can provide food and a habitat for insects and birds”
3.

an opening made forcibly as by pulling apart

  • “there was a rip in his pants”
  • “she had snags in her stockings”
Synonyms
4.

Origin

From earlier snag (“stump or branch of a tree”), from Middle English *snagge, *snage, from Old Norse snagi (“clothes peg”) (compare Old Norse snag-hyrndr (“snag-horned, having jagged corners”)), perhaps related to *sneganą, *snakaną (“to crawl, creep, wind about”) if the original meaning of the root *sneg- was more like “pointy object, stinging creature”. Note also *snakkōną (“to snap at, smack the lips; to blow”) (German schnacken (“to chat”)) and English sneck, snatch. Compare Norwegian snag, snage (“protrusion; projecting point”), Icelandic snagi (“peg”). Also see the Dutch-origin fish names snoek and snook.

Phrases

  • hit a snag
  • snag list
  • snag some z's
  • snag up
  • snagging list

Related words

Word family

Broader terms

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.