snag

plural snags

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.

   1697, Virgil, “The Ninth Book of the Æneis”, in John Dryden, transl., The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC

   Synonyms: knot, protuberance

2. A dead tree that remains standing.
3. 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.’

   1842 December – 1844 July, Charles Dickens, The Life and Adventures of Martin Chuzzlewit, London: Chapman and Hall, […], published 1844, →OCLC

   1 more example

   […]I watched for sunken stones; I was learning to clap my teeth smartly before my heart flew out, when I shaved by a fluke some infernal sly old snag that would have ripped the life out of the tin-pot steamboat and drowned all the pilgrims;[…]

   1899 (please specify the page), Joseph Conrad, “The Heart of Darkness”, in Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine, volume CLXV, New York, N.Y.: The Leonard Scott Publishing Company, […], →OCLC, part

4. broadlyAny sharp protuberant part of an object, which may catch, scratch, or tear other objects brought into contact with it.
5. 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.

   1718, Mat[thew] Prior, “Alma: Or, The Progress of the Mind”, in Poems on Several Occasions, London: […] Jacob Tonson […], and John Barber […], →OCLC, canto II, page 354

   Synonyms: snaggletooth

6. figurativelyA problem or difficulty with something.

   we hit a snag

   2 more examples

   The snag in this business of falling in love, aged relative, is that the parties of the first part so often get mixed up with the wrong parties of the second part, robbed of their cooler judgment by the parties of the second part's glamour.

   1960, P[elham] G[renville] Wodehouse, chapter XII, in Jeeves in the Offing, London: Herbert Jenkins, →OCLC

   Scarcity of outstanding content viewed as snag for unproved and highly priced Vision Pro device[.]

   2024 July 13, Tim Bradshaw, Michael Acton, “Apple’s headset faces struggle to gain attention of developers and end users”, in FT Weekend, London: The Financial Times Ltd., →ISSN, →OCLC, page 12

   Synonyms: hitch

7. A pulled thread or yarn, as in cloth; a tear.
8. One of the secondary branches of an antler.

   Synonyms: tine, point

present singular third person snags · participle present snagging · participle past snagged · past snagged

1. transitiveTo catch or tear (e.g. fabric) upon a rough surface or projection.

   Be careful not to snag your stockings on that concrete bench!

2. transitivenauticalTo 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.

3. transitivefishingTo 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.

4. slangtransitiveTo obtain or pick up, especially in a quick or surreptitious way.

   Ella snagged a bottle of water from the fridge before leaving for her jog.

   2 more examples

   Tickets are cheaper the younger you are—snag a youth ticket (if you're twenty-five or under) for a 35 percent discount. If both you and your travel partner are twenty-six or older, the Small Group Saver will knock off 15 percent.

   2017, Off Track Planet's Travel Guide for the Young, Sexy, and Broke

   Your upcoming Instagram beach photos are begging you to snag this bright orange maxi. BEGGING. Like, oof! Do you see that high slit? 10/10. No notes.

   2023 June 16, Megan Uy, “25 Absolutely Gorgeous Crochet Clothing Pieces You Won’t Stop Wearing This Summer”, in Cosmopolitan

5. UKdialectalTo cut the snags or branches from, as the stem of a tree; to hew roughly.

   When felled and snagged, one end of the tree is placed upon a small sledge, and dragged out of the bush by oxen

   1846, Sir Richard Levinge, “Echoes from the Backwoods”, in The New Monthly, volume 76

6. intransitiveslangNative AmericanTo have noncommittal sexual relations.

   Shit, I remember when you were just rugged, bro. Snagging around and tepee-creeping at the stomp dance.

   2021 September 20, “Satvrday”, in Reservation Dogs, spoken by Big

plural snags

1. UKdialectalobsoleteA light meal.
2. AustraliacolloquialinformalA sausage.First known use 1937.

   I fire up the barbie and start cooking snags.

   2005, Peter Docker, Someone Else′s Country, ReadHowYouWant, published 2010, page 116

   2 more examples

   ‘You can get the chooks and snags from the fridge if you want,’ he replied. I smiled, remembering my bewilderment upon receiving exactly the same command at my very first barbecue back in Sydney a month after I′d first arrived.

   2007, Jim Ford, Don't Worry, Be Happy: Beijing to Bombay with a Backpack, page 196

   ‘Hungry? We′ve got plenty of roo,’ one of the men said as she walked up. He pointed with his spatula, ‘and pig snags, cow snags, beef and chicken.’

   2010, Fiona Wallace, Sense and Celebrity, page 25

   Synonyms: banger, snarler

3. slangAustralian rules footballA goal.

   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."

plural snags

1. A misnaged, an opponent to Chassidic Judaism (more likely modern, for cultural reasons).

plural snags · alternative SNAG

1. abbreviationacronyminformaluncommonAcronym of sensitive new age guy.

   Over time, the ‘sensitive’ aspect of the SNAG has become paramount.

   1999, Anthony McMahon, Taking Care of Men: Sexual Politics in the Public Mind, Cambridge University Press, →ISBN, page 103

   2 more examples

   Mediadates offers handy tips for online dating virgins and a list of popular abbreviations used in website chatrooms. So you can tell a shag from a "Snag" - sensitive new age guy.

   2006 September 22, Jason Deans, “Single white media male. GSOH …”, in The Guardian

   Naturally, the Frat Boy and the Toadmeister decided to hold a contest to see who could “drop the hammer” with Pippi first. Chris’s strategy was to pretend to be a “snag” (Sensitive New Age Guy) in the hope of appealing to her alternative side.

   2008 [2001], Toby Young, How to Lose Friends and Alienate People, Philadelphia, PA: Da Capo, →ISBN, page 76

plural SNAGs

1. Alternative letter-case form of snag (“sensitive new age guy”).