Definition of SNAG

snag

Plural: snags

Noun

  • a sharp protuberance
  • a dead tree that is still standing, usually in an undisturbed forest
    • "a snag can provide food and a habitat for insects and birds"
  • an opening made forcibly as by pulling apart
    • "she had snags in her stockings"
  • an unforeseen obstacle
  • A stump or base of a branch that has been lopped off; a short branch, or a sharp or rough branch.
  • A dead tree that remains standing.
  • A tree, or a branch of a tree, fixed in the bottom of a river or other navigable water, and rising nearly or quite to the surface, by which boats are sometimes pierced and sunk.
  • Any sharp protuberant part of an object, which may catch, scratch, or tear other objects brought into contact with it.
  • A tooth projecting beyond the others; a broken or decayed tooth.
  • A problem or difficulty with something.
  • A pulled thread or yarn, as in cloth.
  • One of the secondary branches of an antler.
  • A light meal.
  • A sausage.
  • A goal.
  • A misnaged, an opponent to Chassidic Judaism (more likely modern, for cultural reasons).
  • Acronym of sensitive new age guy.

Verb

Verb Forms: snagged, snagging, snags

  • To catch or become caught on a sharp projection.
  • catch on a snag
    • "I snagged my stocking"
  • get by acting quickly and smartly
    • "snag a bargain"
  • hew jaggedly
  • To catch or tear (e.g. fabric) upon a rough surface or projection.
  • To damage or sink (a vessel) by collision; said of a tree or branch fixed to the bottom of a navigable body of water and partially submerged or rising to just beneath the surface.
  • To fish by means of dragging a large hook or hooks on a line, intending to impale the body (rather than the mouth) of the target.
  • To obtain or pick up, especially in a quick or surreptitious way.
  • To cut the snags or branches from, as the stem of a tree; to hew roughly.
  • To have noncommittal sexual relations.

Examples

  • Be careful not to snag your stockings on that concrete bench!
  • Ella snagged a bottle of water from the fridge before leaving for her jog.
  • The loose thread on the game mat might SNAG my sleeve if I’m not careful.
  • The steamboat was snagged on the Mississippi River in 1862.
  • we hit a snag
  • We snagged for spoonbill from the eastern shore of the Mississippi River.

Origin / Etymology

From earlier snag (“stump or branch of a tree”), from Middle English *snagge, *snage, from Old Norse snagi (“clothes peg”) (compare Old Norse snag-hyrndr (“snag-horned, having jagged corners”)), perhaps ultimately from a derivative of Proto-Germanic *snakk-, *snēgg, variations of *snakaną (“to crawl, creep, wind about”).
Compare Norwegian snag, snage (“protrusion; projecting point”), Icelandic snagi (“peg”). Also see Dutch snoek (“pike”).

Scrabble Score: 5

snag: valid Scrabble (US) TWL Word
snag: valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
snag: valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary

Words With Friends Score: 7

snag: valid Words With Friends Word