What does "snag" mean?
A stump or base of a branch that has been lopped off; a short branch, or a sharp or rough branch.
Snag
/ˈsnæɡ/ noun, verb, slang
noun, verb, slang ·Very common ·Middle school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: A stump or base of a branch that has been lopped off; a short branch, or a sharp or rough branch.
- Grammar: snag is listed as noun, verb, slang.
- Nearest alternatives: hitch, tear, baby tooth, bag.
- Useful contrasts: evenness, flow, forfeit.
- Usage evidence: The coldest temperature ever recorded in Canada was −63 °C in Snag, Yukon.
How to use "snag"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "snag" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "snag" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "snag" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "snag" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "snag" is acting as noun, verb, slang in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "hitch" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "snag", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A stump or base of a branch that has been lopped off; a short branch, or a sharp or rough branch.
"The coat of arms / Now on a naked snag in triumph borne."
- 2 A light meal. UK, dialectal, obsolete
- 3 A misnaged, an opponent to Chassidic Judaism (more likely modern, for cultural reasons).
- 4 Acronym of sensitive new age guy. abbreviation, acronym, alt-of, informal, uncommon
"Over time, the ‘sensitive’ aspect of the SNAG has become paramount."
- 5 Alternative letter-case form of snag (“sensitive new age guy”). alt-of
Show 13 more definitions
- 6 an unforeseen obstacle wordnet
- 7 A dead tree that remains standing.
- 8 A sausage. Australia, colloquial, informal
"I fire up the barbie and start cooking snags."
- 9 an opening made forcibly as by pulling apart wordnet
- 10 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.
"‘A’most used-up I am, I do declare!’ she observed. ‘The jolting in the cars is pretty nigh as bad as if the rail was full of snags and sawyers.’"
- 11 A goal. slang
"2003, Greg Baum, "Silver anniversary of a goal achieved", The Age "It just kept coming down and I just kept putting them through the middle," he said. "I got an opportunity, and I kicked a few snags.""
- 12 a dead tree that is still standing, usually in an undisturbed forest wordnet
- 13 Any sharp protuberant part of an object, which may catch, scratch, or tear other objects brought into contact with it. broadly
- 14 a sharp protuberance wordnet
- 15 A tooth projecting beyond the others; a broken or decayed tooth.
"To ſee our Women's Teeth look white. / And ev'ry ſaucy ill-bred Fellow / Sneers at a Mouth profoundly yellow. / In China none hold Women ſweet, / Except their Snags are black as jett."
- 16 A problem or difficulty with something. figuratively
"we hit a snag"
- 17 A pulled thread or yarn, as in cloth; a tear.
- 18 One of the secondary branches of an antler.
Verb
- 1 To catch or tear (e.g. fabric) upon a rough surface or projection.
"Be careful not to snag your stockings on that concrete bench!"
- 2 hew jaggedly wordnet
- 3 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.
"The steamboat was snagged on the Mississippi River in 1862."
- 4 catch on a snag wordnet
- 5 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.
"We snagged for spoonbill from the eastern shore of the Mississippi River."
Show 4 more definitions
- 6 get by acting quickly and smartly wordnet
- 7 To obtain or pick up, especially in a quick or surreptitious way. slang, transitive
"Ella snagged a bottle of water from the fridge before leaving for her jog."
- 8 To cut the snags or branches from, as the stem of a tree; to hew roughly. UK, dialectal
"When felled and snagged, one end of the tree is placed upon a small sledge, and dragged out of the bush by oxen"
- 9 To have noncommittal sexual relations. slang
"Shit, I remember when you were just rugged, bro. Snagging around and tepee-creeping at the stomp dance."
Example
"The coldest temperature ever recorded in Canada was −63 °C in Snag, Yukon."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "snag"?
Common synonyms include: hitch, tear, baby tooth, bag, bar, bicuspid.
How do you use "snag" in a sentence?
The coldest temperature ever recorded in Canada was −63 °C in Snag, Yukon.
How do you pronounce "snag"?
Pronounced /ˈsnæɡ/.
Etymology
Etymology 1
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”).
Etymology 2
The Australian National Dictionary Centre suggests that snag as slang for "sausage" most likely derives from the earlier British slang for "light meal", although it makes no comment on how it came to be specifically applied to sausages.Meanings and origins of Australian words and idioms The word's use in football slang originates as a shortening of "sausage roll", rhyming slang for "goal", to sausage, and hence, by synonymy, snag.