snack
Americannoun
-
snacks
plural
-
a small portion of food or drink or a light meal, especially one eaten between regular meals.
-
a share or portion.
-
Slang. a sexy and physically attractive person; hottie.
-
Australian Slang. something easily done.
verb (used without object)
-
snacks,
present (3rd person singular)
-
snacked,
past participle, past
-
snacking
present participle
idioms
noun
-
a light quick meal eaten between or in place of main meals
-
a sip or bite
-
rare a share
-
informal a very easy task
verb
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
snacksimple
-
snackssimple
-
have snackedperfect
-
has snackedperfect
-
am snackingprogressive
-
are snackingprogressive
-
is snackingprogressive
-
have been snackingperfect progressive
-
has been snackingperfect progressive
Past
-
snackedsimple
-
had snackedperfect
-
was snackingprogressive
-
were snackingprogressive
-
had been snackingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of snack
First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English verb snacchen, snac(c)he, snak “(of a dog) to snap at, bite, seize”; Middle English noun snacche, snak(e); further origin uncertain; compare Middle Dutch snacken “(of a dog) to snap”: Norwegian dialect snaka “(of an animal) to snatch”
Explanation
A snack is a small serving of food between meals. Enjoy a healthy snack such as apples with peanut butter, or indulge in a bag of chips. After a huge breakfast, you might just want a light snack instead of lunch. You can use snack as a verb too: "After school, I like to snack on fruit and cookies and listen to music." Snack originally meant "snap or bite" in Middle English, usually in the context of a dog's bite. The noun was also used in the 17th century to mean "a portion or share," which led to the now-obsolete phrase "go snacks," meaning "share with someone."
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:
Suggested actions will pop up automatically for certain items: Snap a snack or dish to see its nutritional value; snap a receipt to calculate how to split the bill.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 14, 2026
Some snack science: Consumer Reports recently published a scary-sounding investigation on chemicals present in common kids’ snacks.
From Slate ● Sep. 14, 2026
Roses are placed on the tables where supporters nibbled from snack plates, hugged, all smiles, and sipped from glasses of sparkling wine or beer.
From Barron's ● Sep. 13, 2026
There was no meal service; instead, you picked from a snack basket like you find in Delta’s Comfort Plus seats.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 11, 2026
When Max and Josie ate applesauce and cheese crackers for morning snack, there was nothing in the world for either of them but that applesauce and those cheese crackers.
From "The School for Whatnots" by Margaret Peterson Haddix
Sometimes he would hide snacks in his family’s couch cushions.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 18, 2026
That was particularly true in areas like saltier snacks, said Jocelyn Carter, senior strategic marketing director for private label at ingredient developer Kerry.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 16, 2026
The weekly snack rotation, in which one parent supplied snacks for the entire 20-student class, came with its own strict rules: sprouted-grain bread only, nothing processed.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 16, 2026
Soybean oil appears in salad dressings, mayonnaise, baked goods, infant formula, snacks and fried foods; soy lecithin emulsifies chocolate and bread; and soy protein fortifies energy bars, breakfast cereals and canned soup.
From Salon ● Sep. 13, 2026
We dump our snacks in the center and everyone picks what they like best.
From "Paradise on Fire" by Jewell Parker Rhodes
Research group Circana says that last year 48.8% of consumers snacked three or more times a day, up 2.7 percentage points over 2024.
From MarketWatch ● Feb. 7, 2026
In between pulls, she snacked on freeze-dried duck liver bits and got a massage.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 20, 2025
Guests snacked on canapés and hors d’oeuvres before proceeding upstairs for the main course.
From Slate ● Mar. 3, 2025
We snacked on bizcochitos, an anise-flavored New Mexican shortbread cookie, in his spacious office.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 16, 2024
Birds snacked on our blueberries; beetles went after the cucumbers.
From "Becoming" by Michelle Obama
I’m like the Thai, who eat eight meals a day, snacking throughout the day.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 21, 2026
Add to this the sugar-hit snacking that keeps some shift workers going overnight and it makes for an extremely unhealthy cocktail.
From BBC ● Jul. 19, 2026
The Covid-19 pandemic had supercharged America’s snacking habit: Some 70% of consumers were eating at least two per day, Smucker said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 8, 2026
The new CEO has set out to streamline Nestlé’s portfolio around coffee, snacking, nutrition, and pet care, believing all four segments can deliver high-single-digit revenue growth.
From Barron's ● Jun. 10, 2026
Though we had already spent most of the day snacking, it was still a pretty awesome announcement, and we all were shocked by it.
From "When I Was the Greatest" by Jason Reynolds
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.
