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Gist vs Snippet - What's the difference?

gist | snippet |

As nouns the difference between gist and snippet

is that gist is the most essential part; the main idea or substance (of a longer or more complicated matter); the crux of a matter while snippet is a tiny piece or part.

As verbs the difference between gist and snippet

is that gist is to summarize, to extract and present the most important parts of while snippet is to produce a snippet (small part), to excerpt.

gist

English

Noun

  • The most essential part; the main idea or substance (of a longer or more complicated matter); the crux of a matter
  • * 1948 , , Remembrance Rock , page 103,
  • "Should they live and build their church in the American wilderness, their worst dangers would rise in and among themselves rather than outside. That was the gist of the lesson from their pastor and "wellwiller" John Robinson."
  • *
  • * 1996 , Nicky Silver, Etiquette and Vitriol , Theatre Communications Group 1996, p. 10:
  • I was really just vomiting images like spoiled sushi (that may be an ill-considered metaphor, but you get my gist ).
  • * 2003 , David McDuff, translating Fyodor Dostoevsky, Crime and Punishment , Penguin 2003 p. 183:
  • I don't remember his exact words, but the gist of it was that he wanted it all for nothing, as quickly as possible, without any effort.
  • (legal, dated) The essential ground for action in a suit, without which there is no cause of action.
  • (obsolete) Resting place (especially of animals), lodging.
  • * 1601 , (Philemon Holland)'s translation of (w, Pliny's Natural History) , 1st ed., book X, chapter XXIII “Of Swallowes, Ousles, or Merles, Thrushes, Stares or Sterlings, Turtles, and Stockdoves.”, p. 282:
  • These Quailes have their set gists', to wit, ordinarie resting and baiting places. [These quails have their set ' gists , to wit, ordinary resting and baiting places.]

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To summarize, to extract and present the most important parts of.
  • * 1873 , Journal of Proceedings and Addresses of the National Educational Association, session of the year 1872, at Boston, Massachusetts , page 201:
  • There are two general ways of getting information, and these two general ways may be summed up in this: take one branch of study and its principles are all gisted', they have been '''gisted''' by the accumulated thought of years gone by. These ' gisted thoughts are axioms, or received principles,
    (extract the most important) (trans-mid) (trans-bottom)

    Anagrams

    * *

    References

    * * “ gist” in (w, Bouvier's Law Dictionary), Revised 6th Ed , 1856. * ----

    snippet

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • a tiny piece or part
  • From the snippet I heard of their rehearsal, they sound pretty good.
  • * 1902 , (Beatrix Potter), (The Tailor of Gloucester):
  • *:He cut his coats without waste; according to his embroidered cloth, they were very small ends and snippets that lay about upon the table …
  • (label) a textfile containing a relatively small amount of code, useless by itself, along with instructions for inserting that code into a larger codebase
  • Synonyms

    * (tiny part) excerpt

    Verb

  • To produce a snippet (small part), to excerpt.
  • To make small cuts, to snip, particularly with scissors.
  • * 1902 , (Beatrix Potter), (The Tailor of Gloucester):
  • *:All day long while the light lasted he sewed and snippetted
  • Usage notes

    Particularly used in computing, for excerpts of search or query results. Doubled ‘tt’ is incorrect per standard spelling rules, but reasonably common.

    Synonyms

    * (tiny part) excerpt