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

As the authors note, "footprints offer a unique and dynamic window into everyday behavior: a snapshot of life tens of thousands of years ago."

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It should acknowledge that productivity growth in standout firms sometimes leads to their expanded market share, and that snapshots of market share and industry concentration are thus poor proxies for pro-growth antitrust policy.

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These studies weren’t necessarily wrong, but I suspect they were snapshots in time that might have lured some into concluding the entire effort was destined to misfire.

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Life can get really hard, and it oftentimes does, and you forget about those precious moments, those snapshots of life that become our little forevers that we hold dear and cherish.

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My kind of writing, “snapshots” of observations and feelings, didn’t qualify in my own estimation as a “real” writer.

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Related Words

• photo