snippet
Americannoun
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snippets
plural
-
a small piece snipped off; a small bit, scrap, or fragment.
an anthology of snippets.
-
Informal. a small or insignificant person.
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of snippet
Explanation
A snippet is a tiny piece. You might only have time to read a snippet of "Moby Dick" before your early English class — just enough to know it's a book about a whale. While a snippet can be a literal fragment of something, like a snippet of hair clipped off the end of your dog's tail, the word is often used to talk about less physical bits. You may get a snippet of information by watching TV news with the sound turned off, or end your writing workshop with just a snippet of an idea for your screenplay. It comes from snip, with its Low German root snippen, "to snip or shred."
Vocabulary lists containing snippet
The Boy in the Striped Pajamas
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The Breadwinner
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The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
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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:
In between these interviews are glimpses of the occasional Israeli news media snippet and at one point an archival reminder of the circumstances of Tel Aviv’s founding.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 9, 2026
The mRNA vaccine and the Oxford vaccine both deliver a snippet of genetic code into the body.
From BBC ● Jun. 1, 2026
“This has been in many respects a trial by snippet and insinuation,” Marriott said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 15, 2026
One snippet seems to be an episode on Elisa Lam, the real-life tourist found dead in the rooftop water tank of Los Angeles’ Cecil Hotel.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 11, 2026
She knew this because she’d once seen a snippet of a documentary on television, and when they showed images of Bangladesh, they really looked familiar to her and she couldn’t explain why.
From "Hello, Universe" by Erin Entrada Kelly
Come prepared for a mix of retro live-action, animated and puppetry snippets while munching on churros or popcorn.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 1, 2026
On the latest episode of ICYMI, host Kate Lindsay introduces listeners to the phenomenon of vertical microdramas, which are 90-second snippets of content chock-full of some of the most absurd plotlines you’ve ever seen.
From Slate ● Sep. 16, 2026
It’s a collection of songs pieced together from perfect-seeming snippets heard while passing open doors.
From Salon ● Aug. 21, 2026
But through a series of other contacts, combined with other snippets of information, she is confident that both boats did leave on 29 June, one in the morning, the other later in the day.
From BBC ● Jul. 17, 2026
Perhaps this is the only way to grieve the big things—in snippets, pinches, little sips of sadness.
From "In the Time of the Butterflies" by Julia Alvarez
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.
