Definitions and meaning of snag
snag
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈsnæɡ/
-
- Rhymes: -æɡ
Etymology 1
Of North Germanic origin, ultimately from Old Norse snagi (“clothes peg”), perhaps ultimately from a derivative of Proto-Germanic *snakk-, *snēgg, variations of *snakaną (“to crawl, creep, wind about”).
Compare Norwegian snag, snage (“protrusion; projecting point”), Icelandic snagi (“peg”). Also see Dutch snoek (“pike”).
Noun
snag (plural snags)
- A stump or base of a branch that has been lopped off; a short branch, or a sharp or rough branch.
- Synonyms: knot, protuberance
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- The coat of arms / Now on a naked snag in triumph borne.
- A dead tree that remains standing.
- A tree, or a branch of a tree, fixed in the bottom of a river or other navigable water, and rising nearly or quite to the surface, by which boats are sometimes pierced and sunk.
- (by extension) Any sharp protuberant part of an object, which may catch, scratch, or tear other objects brought into contact with it.
- A tooth projecting beyond the others; a broken or decayed tooth.
- (Can we find and add a quotation of Prior to this entry?)
- (figuratively) A problem or difficulty with something.
- Synonym: hitch
- A pulled thread or yarn, as in cloth.
- One of the secondary branches of an antler.
- Synonyms: tine, point
Derived terms
Translations
Verb
snag (third-person singular simple present snags, present participle snagging, simple past and past participle snagged)
- To catch or tear (e.g. fabric) upon a rough surface or projection.
- To damage or sink (a vessel) by collision; said of a tree or branch fixed to the bottom of a navigable body of water and partially submerged or rising to just beneath the surface.
- (fishing) To fish by means of dragging a large hook or hooks on a line, intending to impale the body (rather than the mouth) of the target.
- (slang, transitive) To obtain or pick up.
- 2017, Off Track Planet's Travel Guide for the Young, Sexy, and Broke
- Tickets are cheaper the younger you are—snag a youth ticket (if you're twenty-five or under) for a 35 percent discount. If both you and your travel partner are twenty-six or older, the Small Group Saver will knock off 15 percent.
- (Britain, dialect) To cut the snags or branches from, as the stem of a tree; to hew roughly.
- (Can we find and add a quotation of Halliwell to this entry?)
Translations
Etymology 2
The Australian National Dictionary Centre suggests that snag as slang for "sausage" most likely derives from the earlier British slang for "light meal", although it makes no comment on how it came to be specifically applied to sausages.Meanings and origins of Australian words and idioms The word's use in football slang originates as a shortening of "sausage roll", rhyming slang for "goal", to sausage, and hence, by synonymy, snag.
Noun
snag (plural snags)
- (Britain, dialect, obsolete) A light meal.
- (Australia, informal, colloquial) A sausage. [From 1937.]
- Synonyms: banger (UK), snarler (NZ)
- 2005, Peter Docker, Someone Else′s Country, 2010, ReadHowYouWant, page 116,
- I fire up the barbie and start cooking snags.
- 2007, Jim Ford, Don't Worry, Be Happy: Beijing to Bombay with a Backpack, page 196,
- ‘You can get the chooks and snags from the fridge if you want,’ he replied.
- I smiled, remembering my bewilderment upon receiving exactly the same command at my very first barbecue back in Sydney a month after I′d first arrived.
- 2010, Fiona Wallace, Sense and Celebrity, page 25,
- ‘Hungry? We′ve got plenty of roo,’ one of the men said as she walked up. He pointed with his spatula, ‘and pig snags, cow snags, beef and chicken.’
- (Australian rules football, slang) A goal.
- 2003, Greg Baum, "Silver anniversary of a goal achieved", The Age
- "It just kept coming down and I just kept putting them through the middle," he said. "I got an opportunity, and I kicked a few snags."
Translations
See also
- Appendix:Australian rhyming slang
- Appendix:Australian rules football slang
Etymology 3
(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)
Noun
snag (plural snags)
- A misnaged, an opponent to Chassidic Judaism (more likely modern, for cultural reasons).
References
Anagrams
- AGNs, ANGs, GANs, GNAs, NSAG, gans, nags, sang
Irish
Pronunciation
Etymology 1
(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)
Noun
snag m (genitive singular snaga, nominative plural snaganna)
- a catch (hesitation in voice), gasp, sob
- a lull (period of rest)
Declension
Derived terms
Etymology 2
Probably related to Scottish Gaelic snag (“sharp knock”), also "wood-pecker."
Noun
snag m (genitive singular snaga, nominative plural snaganna)
- a treecreeper (bird of the family Certhiidae)
- Synonym: beangán
- goby (fish)
- Synonym: mac siobháin
Declension
Derived terms
Mutation
Further reading
- "snag" in Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla, An Gúm, 1977, by Niall Ó Dónaill.
- Entries containing “snag” in English-Irish Dictionary, An Gúm, 1959, by Tomás de Bhaldraithe.
- Entries containing “snag” in New English-Irish Dictionary by Foras na Gaeilge.
Scottish Gaelic
Etymology
Related to snaidh (“hew, chip”), from Proto-Celtic *sknad, from Proto-Indo-European *k(ʷ)end- or *k(ʷ)enHd(ʰ)-, see also Sanskrit खादति (khādati, “to chew, to bite”) and Persian خاییدن (xâyidan, “to chew”).
Noun
snag f (genitive singular snaige, plural snagan)
- sharp knock (sound)
Derived terms
Mutation
References
Source: wiktionary.org- SNAFU, to cause confusion.
(source: Collins Scrabble Dictionary)