snag
- a tree or part of a tree held fast in the bottom of a river, lake, etc., and forming an impediment or danger to navigation.
- a short, projecting stump, as of a branch broken or cut off.
- any sharp or rough projection.
- a jagged hole, tear, pull, or run in a fabric, as caused by catching on a sharp projection.
- any obstacle or impediment.
- a stump of a tooth or a projecting tooth; snaggletooth.
- to run or catch up on a snag.
- to damage by so doing.
- to obstruct or impede, as a snag does: He snagged all my efforts.
- to grab; seize: to snag the last piece of pie.
- to become entangled with some obstacle or hindrance.
- to become tangled: This line snags every time I cast.
- (of a boat) to strike a snag.
- to form a snag.
Origin of snag
Related Words for snag
crunch, barrier, difficulty, inconvenience, drawback, holdup, hitch, glitch, obstacle, impediment, hurdle, bug, disadvantage, rip, clog, bar, puzzler, blockade, fix, spotExamples from the Web for snag
Contemporary Examples of snag
He was 19, and managed to snag a summer internship with New Line Cinema.
‘Mockingjay’s’ Mastermind: Francis Lawrence on the Book vs. Movie, ISIS Parallels, and MoreMarlow Stern
November 23, 2014
This is a snag because Chan lives across the border, where the Hong Kong Dollar is used.
Over the last four years, however, the process has hit a snag.
Luz gets away and hires Malone to take her over the border, where Thacker and others are waiting to snag her.
Megan wants Don to help her snag an audition for a shoe commercial.
Historical Examples of snag
We also paused to look at the body of a dead alligator which had been caught in a snag.
The Last VoyageLady (Annie Allnutt) Brassey
Then I had to look at the river mighty quick, because there was a snag in the fairway.
Heart of DarknessJoseph Conrad
If we'd struck a snag that would have held the tree, it would have been 'good-night' for us.
Prairie FlowersJames B. Hendryx
The only snag in the latter theory was the fact of our accident.
Highways in HidingGeorge Oliver Smith
They were always to be seen lying on a log or snag in the water.
snag
- a difficulty or disadvantagethe snag is that I have nothing suitable to wear
- a sharp protuberance, such as a tree stump
- a small loop or hole in a fabric caused by a sharp object
- engineering a projection that brings to a stop a sliding or rotating component
- mainly US and Canadian a tree stump in a riverbed that is dangerous to navigation
- US and Canadian a standing dead tree, esp one used as a perch by an eagle
- (plural) Australian slang sausages
- (tr) to hinder or impede
- (tr) to tear or catch (fabric)
- (intr) to develop a snag
- (intr) mainly US and Canadian (of a boat) to strike or be damaged by a snag
- (tr) mainly US and Canadian to clear (a stretch of water) of snags
- (tr) US to seize (an opportunity, benefit, etc)
Word Origin for snag
Word Origin and History for snag
1570s, "stump of a tree, branch," of Scandinavian origin, cf. Old Norse snagi "clothes peg," snaga "a kind of ax," snag-hyrndr "snag-cornered, with sharp points." The ground sense seems to be "a sharp protuberance." The meaning "sharp or jagged projection" is first recorded 1580s; especially "tree or branch in water and partly near the surface, so as to be dangerous to navigation" (1807). The figurative meaning "obstacle, impediment" is from 1829.
"be caught on an impediment," 1807, from snag (n.). Originally in American English, often in reference to steamboats caught on branches and stumps lodged in riverbeds. Of fabric, from 1967. The transitive meaning "to catch, steal, pick up" is U.S. colloquial, attested from 1895. Related: Snagged; snagging.
Idioms and Phrases with snag
snag
see hit a snag.