snack

[snak]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR snack ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a small portion of food or drink or a light meal, especially one eaten between regular meals.

a share or portion.

Australian Slang. something easily done.

verb (used without object)

to have a snack or light meal, especially between regular meals: They snacked on tea and cake.

Idioms

go snack/snacks, to share (profits or returns).

Origin of snack

1300–50; (noun) Middle English: a snap or bite, derivative of snacken to snap, bite; compare Middle Dutch snack a snap; (v.) derivative of the noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for snack

tea, morsel, refreshment, lunch, tidbit, grub, nibble, bite, eats, break, nosh, piece, munch, goodies, pickings, luncheon

Examples from the Web for snack

Contemporary Examples of snack

Late former governors of NY, TX starred in a 1994 snack chip ad.
Mario Cuomo, Ann Richards Concede to Doritos
The Daily Beast Video
January 2, 2015
And the “Pond Pit” snack bar will serve fried tadpole rolls.
Why I Hate The Beach
P. J. O’Rourke
July 27, 2014
Or the World Series where you can take a snack break during the wind-up for every pitch.
Up To a Point: Oops, I Enjoyed Soccer
P. J. O’Rourke
July 13, 2014
I snack them in between [checkpoints] with some fish or beef fat, something to give them some quick energy.
Jamaica, We Have a Dogsled Team
Allen St. John
March 25, 2014
If you muttered, “blasphemy” after reading the first tip about skipping a snack, then snack smart.
6 Ways to Avoid ‘Sochi Gut’ While Watching the Olympics
Jenna A. Bell
February 12, 2014

Historical Examples of snack

They hastened up and the snack was set out on a patch of soft grass.
Fruitfulness
Emile Zola
The cook will have a snack for you before you pull back to Oban.
The Three Commanders
W.H.G. Kingston
And some sandwiches and pound cake for a snack for ourselves.
Lucy Maud Montgomery Short Stories, 1902 to 1903
Lucy Maud Montgomery
After a bite and a snack I went to bed, not to worry, but to sleep.
A Pirate of Parts
Richard Neville
"When we were eating our snack," put in Willy, not to be left out.
Two Little Confederates
Thomas Nelson Page

British Dictionary definitions for snack

snack

noun

a light quick meal eaten between or in place of main meals

a sip or bite

rare a share

Australian informal a very easy task

verb

(intr) to eat a snack

Word Origin for snack

C15: probably from Middle Dutch snacken, variant of snappen to snap

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for snack

c.1300, "to bite or snap" (of a dog), probably from Middle Dutch or Flemish snacken "to snatch, snap; chatter," which Watkins traces to a hypothetical Germanic imitative root *snu- forming words having to do with the nose (see snout). The meaning "have a mere bite or morsel, eat a light meal" is first attested 1807. Related: Snacked; snacking.

c.1400, "a snatch or snap" (especially that of a dog), from snack (v.). Later "a snappish remark" (1550s); "a share, portion, part" (1680s; hence old expression go snacks "share, divide; have a share in"). Main modern meaning "a bite or morsel to eat hastily" is attested from 1757. Snack bar is attested from 1923. Commercial plural form snax attested from 1942 in the vending machine trade.