snapshot
Americannoun
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snapshots
plural
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an informal photograph, especially one taken quickly by a handheld camera.
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Hunting. a quick shot taken without deliberate aim.
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Informal. a brief appraisal, summary, or profile.
verb (used with or without object)
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of snapshot
1800–10 snapshot for def. 2; 1860–65 snapshot for def. 1; snap (in the sense “done suddenly or casually”) + shot 1
Explanation
A snapshot is a quick photograph taken for fun. Be sure to take lots of snapshots while you're on vacation! Using the word snapshot makes it clear you're not talking about professional photographs or artistic shots you've put some thought into. A snapshot just captures a brief moment in time. You can also use this word to mean "impression or summary." A person's obituary, even if deeply moving, can never be more than a snapshot of their varied, complex life. The original 17th0century meaning of snapshot was "quick shot with a gun at a fast-moving target."
Vocabulary lists containing snapshot
Photography Lingo
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Additional Literary Terms, Unit 2
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Keep in mind that in the case of this particular fund, it is only a snapshot.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 12, 2026
"The current results are a snapshot of a moment during infection, and it opens the door to studying flu-host interactions across the entire infection cycle."
From Science Daily ● Jul. 21, 2026
Son put his finger to his lips in the universal “shhh” sign and then did his patented camera celebration — click! — miming a snapshot.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 18, 2026
Provisional purchasing managers’ surveys for the U.S., eurozone and the U.K. will provide a snapshot of business-sector activity during July just as military conflict in the Middle East has resumed, pulling oil prices higher.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 17, 2026
It’s as though the name were a particularly unflattering snapshot of himself that makes him want to say in his defense, “That’s not really me.”
From "The Namesake" by Jhumpa Lahiri
His instinct was to photograph, but he did not expect one of his lakeside snapshots to go around the world within hours.
From Barron's ● Jul. 29, 2026
Archived snapshots of the websites for the girls' and boys' sections of the school – taken in the months before the attack - include the address of the site.
From BBC ● Jul. 23, 2026
But in this coastal enclave dubbed America’s Best-Preserved Puritan Town, those snapshots have lit a burning debate.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 16, 2026
They’re snapshots of what you did, why it mattered and how your beliefs influenced your actions.
From MarketWatch ● May 19, 2026
The world is coming at me in high-contrast snapshots, deprived of narrative continuity.
From "Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America" by Barbara Ehrenreich
The student survey indicating widespread opposition to the policy—released in February shortly after the grade proposal was publicized—was taken at an “unrepresentative moment” because it snapshotted students’ initial shock, she said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 3, 2026
Users can choose which apps are used by the feature, and private mode on some browsers will not be snapshotted.
From BBC ● Apr. 11, 2025
“I know sometimes things can be snapshotted in a certain way in a particular cultural moment,” said Hernandez.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 11, 2024
Josh Kaplan explains this weird new surveillance technology that most people are still unaware of—especially those whose cars are being snapshotted.
From Slate ● Jul. 10, 2019
He began passing samples of his skill to Peter Rolls, calling out rather loudly the names of ladies snapshotted.
From Winnie Childs The Shop Girl by C. N. (Charles Norris) Williamson
The Chief of Police has just been here and left instructions that snapshotting is an invasion of private rights.
From The Tempering by Charles Neville Buck
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
