snapped

[ snapt ]

adjective

1. broken suddenly and with a sharp cracking sound:

   The snapped twig startled the animal, and it darted to safety.

2. photographed, especially quickly or spontaneously:

   A hastily snapped photo captured the moment.

3. Digital Technology.
   1. (of a QR code or other source) scanned using a smartphone or other digital device in order to read the encoded text or URL and browse the hyperlinked web page:

      The URL of the snapped QR code was only a blank page with no info, just a silly movie clip.

   2. being or relating to an icon or other displayed item moved instantly and automatically into alignment with a grid or into a predetermined position, as to a corner or edge of the screen:

      A snapped app occupies a narrower region of the screen, freeing up the remaining screen area.

4. uttered quickly and sharply, as a command, retort, rebuke, etc.:

   "None of your business!" was the snapped reply.

5. closed, opened, placed, thrown, applied, etc., with a sharp, quick sound or movement:

   A snapped shot hit the goalie in the net and was knocked away.

   The tip of a snapped whip would’ve hurt like a knife.

6. Football. (of the ball) put into play by tossing it back to a member of the offensive backfield, especially from between the legs when bent over double:

   A punter receives the snapped ball and punts it to the opposing team in a way that limits any field position advantage.

7. (of the fingers) making a sudden sharp sound by being pressed against each other and then released sideways:

   They arrogantly expect the rest of the world to jump to their snapped fingers.

verb

1. the simple past tense and past participle of snap.

Word History and Origins

Origin of snapped¹

snap ( def ) + -ed ²( def )

Example Sentences

Cleveland ended Palisades’ string of 11 straight section titles and snapped the Dolphins’ streak of 43 straight City Section playoff victories.

From Los Angeles Times

It was during the nationally televised Army–McCarthy hearings of 1954 that Joseph Welch, the lawyer for an accused officer, snapped back at the senator, “Have you no sense of decency, sir?”

From Slate

Left alone, he might have snapped, Paiz said.

From Los Angeles Times

"Bradley was blind because he shook him that hard, he snapped his optic nerve and he had a can of Coke’s worth of blood between his brain and his skull," Bradley's mum, Sharon Boocock, said.

From BBC

When a reporter pressed Trump on Tuesday for how he voted on Florida’s abortion ballot measure that would prevent any laws restricting abortion until fetal viability, he snapped, “You should stop talking about that.”

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• broken
• cracked
• damaged
• divided
• mangled
• ripped
• ruptured
• severed