snap to

verb

To suddenly give someone one's full attention.

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Meanings

verbsnap to (third-person singular simple present snaps to, present participle snapping to, simple past and past participle snapped to)

present singular third person snaps to · participle present snapping to · participle past snapped to · past snapped to

  1. intransitiveTo suddenly give someone one's full attention.
    1 more example

    There was a young woman in the shop, a rather massively built young woman with muscular calves and a deep chest. She was pointing out the seat of her bicycle to Oscar, who was saying "Uh-huh" and looking more at her than at anything else "It's just a little too far forward […]" Oscar repeated, "Uh-huh" automatically, then snapped to. "Fix it in a jiffy," he said […]

    1958 May, Avram Davidson, “Or All The Seas With Oysters”, in Galaxy Science Fiction, page 52

Origin

Ellipsis of snap to attention.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

snap to. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/snap%20to

MLA

“snap to.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/snap%20to. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “snap to,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/snap%20to.

Source: snap to on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.