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Jerk vs Snap - What's the difference?

jerk | snap | Synonyms |

In obsolete terms the difference between jerk and snap

is that jerk is to flout with contempt while snap is a greedy fellow.

In intransitive terms the difference between jerk and snap

is that jerk is to make a sudden uncontrolled movement while snap is to fit or fasten together with a snapping sound.

In transitive terms the difference between jerk and snap

is that jerk is to give a quick, often unpleasant tug or shake while snap is to take a photograph; to release a camera's shutter (which may make a snapping sound).

As an interjection snap is

the winning cry at a game of snap.

jerk

English

Etymology 1

Probably from (etyl) . Related to (l).

Alternative forms

* (l)

Noun

(en noun)
  • A sudden, often uncontrolled movement, especially of the body.
  • * 1856 , (Gustave Flaubert), (Madame Bovary), Part III Chapter X, translated by Eleanor Marx-Aveling
  • The black cloth bestrewn with white beads blew up from time to time, laying bare the coffin. The tired bearers walked more slowly, and it advanced with constant jerks , like a boat that pitches with every wave.
  • A quick, often unpleasant tug or shake.
  • When I yell "OK," give the mooring line a good jerk !
  • (US, slang, pejorative) A dull or stupid person.
  • (US, slang, pejorative) A person with unlikable or obnoxious qualities and behavior, typically mean, self-centered or disagreeable.
  • I finally fired him, because he was being a real jerk to his customers, even to some of the staff.
    You really are a jerk sometimes.
  • (physics, engineering) The rate of change in acceleration with respect to time.
  • (obsolete) A soda jerk.
  • (weightlifting) A lift in which the weight is taken with a quick motion from shoulder height to a position above the head with arms fully extended and held there for a brief time.
  • Usage notes
    (wikipedia jerk) * Jerk is measured in metres per second cubed (m/s3) in SI units, or in feet per second cubed (ft/s3) in imperial units.
    Synonyms
    * (sudden movement) jolt, lurch, jump * (quick tug) yank * (stupid person) numbskull * (unlikable person) asshole, bastard, twat, knobhead, tosser, wanker, git, dick. * jolt (British), surge, lurch
    Derived terms
    * jerkish * soda jerk

    See also

    * acceleration * displacement * velocity

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To make a sudden uncontrolled movement.
  • * 1877 , (Anna Sewell), (Black Beauty) Chapter 23[http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Black_Beauty/23]
  • York came to me first, whilst the groom stood at Ginger's head. He drew my head back and fixed the rein so tight that it was almost intolerable; then he went to Ginger, who was impatiently jerking her head up and down against the bit, as was her way now.
  • To give a quick, often unpleasant tug or shake.
  • (US, slang, vulgar) To masturbate.
  • (obsolete) To beat, to hit.
  • (Florio)
  • (obsolete) To throw with a quick and suddenly arrested motion of the hand.
  • to jerk a stone
  • (usually, transitive, weightlifting) To lift using a jerk.
  • (obsolete) To flout with contempt.
  • Derived terms
    * jerk off * jerksome

    Etymology 2

    From American (etyl) charquear, from charqui, from (etyl) .

    Noun

    (-)
  • (Caribbean) A rich, spicy Jamaican marinade
  • (Caribbean) Meat cured by jerking; charqui.
  • Jerk chicken is a local favorite.

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To cure (meat) by cutting it into strips and drying it, originally in the sun.
  • * 2011 , Dominic Smith, Bright and Distant Shores , page 106:
  • The Lemakot in the north strangled widows and threw them into the cremation pyres of their dead husbands. If they defeated potential invaders the New Irish hanged the vanquished from banyan trees, flensed their windpipes, removed their heads, left their intestines to jerk in the sun.

    snap

    English

    (wikipedia snap)

    Noun

  • A quick breaking or cracking sound or the action of producing such a sound.
  • A sudden break.
  • An attempt to seize, bite, attack, or grab.
  • The act of making a snapping sound by pressing the thumb and a opposing finger of the same hand together and suddenly releasing the grip so that the finger hits against the palm.
  • A fastening device that makes a snapping sound when used.
  • A photograph (an abbreviation of snapshot)
  • The sudden release of something held under pressure or tension.
  • A thin circular cookie or similar good:
  • a ginger snap
  • A brief, sudden period of a certain weather;
  • A very short period of time (figuratively, the time taken to snap one's fingers), or a task that can be accomplished in such a period.
  • It'll be a snap to get that finished.
    I can fix most vacuum cleaners in a snap .
  • A snap bean such as Phaseolus vulgaris .
  • (American football) The passing of a football from the center to a back that begins play, a hike.
  • A rivet: a scrapbooking embellishment.
  • (UK, regional) A small meal, a snack; lunch.
  • * 1913 , , Penguin 2006, page 89:
  • When I went to put my coat on at snap time, what should go runnin' up my arm but a mouse.
  • (uncountable) A card game, primarily for children, in which players cry "snap" to claim pairs of matching cards.
  • (obsolete) A greedy fellow.
  • (rfquotek, L'Estrange)
  • That which is, or may be, snapped up; something bitten off, seized, or obtained by a single quick movement; hence, a bite, morsel, or fragment; a scrap.
  • * Ben Jonson
  • He's a nimble fellow, / And alike skilled in every liberal science, / As having certain snaps of all.
  • briskness; vigour; energy; decision
  • (slang, archaic) Any circumstance out of which money may be made or an advantage gained.
  • A snapper, or snap beetle.
  • (Webster 1913)

    Derived terms

    * snappy

    See also

    *

    Verb

  • (transitive) To fracture or break apart suddenly.
  • He snapped his stick in anger.
    If you bend it too much, it will snap .
  • * Burke
  • But this weapon will snap short, unfaithful to the hand that employs it.
  • To give forth or produce a sharp cracking noise; to crack.
  • Blazing firewood snaps .
  • To attempt to seize with the teeth or bite.
  • A dog snaps''' at a passenger. A fish '''snaps at the bait.
  • To attempt to seize with eagerness.
  • She snapped at the chance to appear on television.
  • To speak abruptly or sharply.
  • He snapped at me for the slightest mistake.
  • To give way abruptly and loudly.
  • To suffer a mental breakdown, usually while under tension.
  • She should take a break before she snaps .
  • To flash or appear to flash as with light.
  • To fit or fasten together with a snapping sound.
  • (intransitive, computing, graphical user interface) To jump to a fixed position relative to another element.
  • The floating toolbar will snap to the edge of the screen when dragged towards it.
  • To snatch with or as if with the teeth.
  • * South
  • He, by playing too often at the mouth of death, has been snapped by it at last.
  • To pull apart with a snapping sound; to pop loose.
  • To say abruptly or sharply.
  • (dated) To speak to abruptly or sharply; to treat snappishly; usually with up .
  • (Granville)
  • To cause something to emit a snapping sound.
  • to snap a fastener
    to snap a whip
  • To close something using a snap as a fastener.
  • To snap one's fingers: to make a snapping sound, often by pressing the thumb and an opposing finger of the same hand together and suddenly releasing the grip so that the finger hits against the palm; alternatively, by bringing the index finger quickly down onto the middle finger and thumb.
  • * Sir Walter Scott
  • MacMorian snapped his fingers repeatedly.
  • To cause to move suddenly and smartly.
  • To take a photograph; to release a camera's shutter (which may make a snapping sound).
  • He snapped a picture of me with my mouth open and my eyes closed.
  • (American football) To pass the ball from the center to a back; to hike the ball.
  • He can snap the ball to a back twenty yards behind him.
  • To misfire.
  • The gun snapped .

    Derived terms

    * snap at someone's heels * snap it up * snap one's fingers * snap someone's head off * snap up * unsnap

    Interjection

    (en-interj)!
  • The winning cry at a game of .
  • (British) By extension from the card game, "I've got one the same." or similar
  • Snap! We've both got pink buckets and spades.
  • (British) Ritual utterance of agreement (after the cry in the card game snap).
  • (US) Used in place of expletive to express surprise, usually in response to a negative statement or news; often used facetiously.
  • "I just ran over your phone with my car." "Oh, snap !"
  • (British, Australia, NZ) Ritual utterance used after something is said by two people at exactly the same time.
  • "Wasn't that John?" "Wasn't that John?" "Snap !"

    Synonyms

    * (used after simultaneous utterance) jinx