snapshot

[snap-shot]

noun

1. an informal photograph, especially one taken quickly by a handheld camera.

2. Hunting.,  a quick shot taken without deliberate aim.

3. Informal.,  a brief appraisal, summary, or profile.

verb (used with or without object)

snapshot, snapshotted, snapshotting. 

1. to photograph informally and quickly.

snapshot

/ ˈsnæpˌʃɒt /

noun

1. Often shortened to: snap. an informal photograph taken with a simple camera

Word History and Origins

Origin of snapshot¹

1800–10 snapshot for def. 2; 1860–65 snapshot for def. 1; snap (in the sense “done suddenly or casually”) + shot ¹

Example Sentences

That is why focusing on simple market-share snapshots can be misleading.

Read more on Barron's

The team used a specialist retrieval system to access the airbag control module – where a snapshot of electronic data, triggered by the crash, revealed speeds, accelerator position, steering wheel angle and brake pedal application.

Read more on BBC

Many traditional approaches required killing and preserving cells at different time points, producing only isolated snapshots instead of a continuous view.

Read more on Science Daily

Or you can get satellite snapshots of shipping containers heading into the Port of Los Angeles.

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Botterell said trends and variations in demographics, urban planning, workforce development, and infrastructure development and maintenance might be harder to spot in a series of snapshots from a relatively short period.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• photo