snack
Americannoun
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snacks
plural
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a small portion of food or drink or a light meal, especially one eaten between regular meals.
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a share or portion.
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Slang. a sexy and physically attractive person; hottie.
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Australian Slang. something easily done.
verb (used without object)
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snacks,
present (3rd person singular)
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snacked,
past participle, past
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snacking
present participle
idioms
noun
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a light quick meal eaten between or in place of main meals
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a sip or bite
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rare a share
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informal a very easy task
verb
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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snacksimple
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snackssimple
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have snackedperfect
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has snackedperfect
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am snackingprogressive
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are snackingprogressive
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is snackingprogressive
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have been snackingperfect progressive
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has been snackingperfect progressive
Past
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snackedsimple
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had snackedperfect
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was snackingprogressive
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were snackingprogressive
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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:
The only thing free on three flights was a small bottle of water and a snack.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026
Delta has gotten rid of Michel et Augustin shortbread square cookies, the highlight of the Comfort+ snack basket for me.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026
Francesca says she eats bread with Nutella for breakfast, a chocolate-filled sponge cake as a snack, pasta with lentils for lunch and usually chicken for dinner.
From BBC ● Jul. 25, 2026
Ask your guests about their allergies and snack preferences then put together a snack basket.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 23, 2026
We walked over to the snack corner and bought extra food so we could take some along on the bus.
From "Flying Through Water" by Mamle Wolo
Late last year, Pringles-maker Kellanova was officially acquired by privately-held snacks company Mars, which now handles U.S. manufacturing of the chips.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 5, 2026
Besides being a "comfort food" after a hard shift at the front, the snacks also make sure the firefighters have "more strength", she said.
From Barron's ● Jul. 31, 2026
Hershey HSY 0.28%increase; up pointing triangle logged higher sales in its latest quarter, boosted by growth for its salty snacks business in North America.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 30, 2026
She preps "summer baskets" which include puzzle books, reading books and snacks to curb any boredom.
From BBC ● Jul. 24, 2026
Elegant ambassadors with their fancy wives on their arms pick snacks off silver trays.
From "Before We Were Free" by Julia Alvarez
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 love the food, all the staff here is extremely friendly and they explain everything in English and in Spanish,” Isabel said as the group sipped coffee and snacked on churros.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 27, 2024
He drained gallons of milk, devoured entire large pizzas in one sitting, and often snacked from dinner to bedtime.
From "Becoming" by Michelle Obama
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
Chicks Luna and Sandy were seen safe and sound Sunday morning around 6 a.m. on the popular livestream nest cam aimed at their Big Bear pine tree, snacking on fish in the family aerie.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 6, 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
No doubt some critter snacking on a late supper.
From "Hattie Big Sky" by Kirby Larson
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.
