What's the difference between
and
Enter two words to compare and contrast their definitions, origins, and synonyms to better understand how those words are related.

Snap vs Close - What's the difference?

snap | close |

In obsolete terms the difference between snap and close

is that snap is a greedy fellow while close is out of the way of observation; secluded; secret; hidden.

In british terms the difference between snap and close

is that snap is ritual utterance of agreement (after the cry in the card game snap) while close is a street that ends in a dead end.

As nouns the difference between snap and close

is that snap is a quick breaking or cracking sound or the action of producing such a sound while close is an end or conclusion.

As verbs the difference between snap and close

is that snap is to fracture or break apart suddenly while close is to remove a gap.

As an interjection snap

is the winning cry at a game of snap.

As an adjective close is

closed, shut.

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

    close

    English

    Etymology 1

    From (etyl) .

    Verb

    (clos)
  • (label) To remove a gap.
  • # To obstruct (an opening).
  • # To move so that an opening is closed.
  • #* (Lord Byron) (1788-1824)
  • What deep wounds ever closed without a scar?
  • #*
  • #*:If I close my eyes I can see Marie today as I saw her then. Round, rosy face, snub nose, dark hair piled up in a chignon.
  • # To make (e.g. a gap) smaller.
  • # To grapple; to engage in close combat.
  • #* (1796-1859)
  • They boldly closed in a hand-to-hand contest.
  • (label) To finish, to terminate.
  • # To put an end to; to conclude; to complete; to finish; to consummate.
  • #* (John Dryden) (1631-1700)
  • One frugal supper did our studies close .
  • # To come to an end.
  • # (label) To make a sale.
  • # To make the final outs, usually three, of a game.
  • # To terminate an application, window, file or database connection, etc.
  • To come or gather around; to enclose; to encompass; to confine.
  • * Bible, (w) ii. 5
  • The depth closed me round about.
  • * (George Herbert) (1593-1633)
  • But now Thou dost Thyself immure and close / In some one corner of a feeble heart; / Where yet both Sinne and Satan, Thy old foes, / Do pinch and straiten Thee, and use much art / To gain Thy thirds' and little part.
  • (label) To have a vector sum of 0; that is, to form a closed polygon.
  • Synonyms
    * close off, close up, cover, shut, shut off * shut * (put an end to) end, finish, terminate, wind up, close down * narrow * (terminate a computer program) close out, exit
    Antonyms
    * open * open * (put an end to) begin, commence, initiate, start * extend, widen * (terminate a computer program) open, start
    Derived terms
    * autoclosing * case closed * close down * close in * close off * close one's eyes * close out * close ranks * close the door on * close the face * close up *

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • An end or conclusion.
  • We owe them our thanks for bringing the project to a successful close .
  • * Macaulay
  • His long and troubled life was drawing to a close .
  • The manner of shutting; the union of parts; junction.
  • * Chapman
  • The doors of plank were; their close exquisite.
  • A grapple in wrestling.
  • (Francis Bacon)
  • (music) The conclusion of a strain of music; cadence.
  • * Dryden
  • At every close she made, the attending throng / Replied, and bore the burden of the song.
  • (music) A double bar marking the end.
  • Synonyms
    * (end) end, finale
    Antonyms
    * (end) beginning, start

    Etymology 2

    From (etyl) clos, from (etyl) clausum, participle of (m).

    Adjective

    (er)
  • Closed, shut.
  • * 1526 , William Tyndale, trans. Bible , Matthew chapter 8:
  • There is nothinge so close , that shall not be openned, and nothinge so hyd that shall not be knowen.
  • * Dryden
  • From a close bower this dainty music flowed.
  • Narrow; confined.
  • a close''' alley; '''close quarters
  • * Charles Dickens
  • a close prison
  • At a little distance; near.
  • * , chapter=7
  • , title= The Mirror and the Lamp , passage=[…] St.?Bede's at this period of its history was perhaps the poorest and most miserable parish in the East End of London. Close -packed, crushed by the buttressed height of the railway viaduct, rendered airless by huge walls of factories, it at once banished lively interest from a stranger's mind and left only a dull oppression of the spirit.}}
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-01, volume=407, issue=8838, page=71, magazine=(The Economist)
  • , title= End of the peer show , passage=Finance is seldom romantic. But the idea of peer-to-peer lending comes close . This is an industry that brings together individual savers and lenders on online platforms. Those that want to borrow are matched with those that want to lend.}}
  • Intimate; well-loved.
  • # (legal) Of a corporation or other business entity, closely held.
  • Oppressive; without motion or ventilation; causing a feeling of lassitude.
  • * Francis Bacon
  • If the rooms be low-roofed, or full of windows and doors, the one maketh the air close , and the other maketh it exceeding unequal.
  • Hot, humid, with no wind.
  • (linguistics, phonetics, of a vowel) Articulated with the tongue body relatively close to the hard palate.
  • Strictly confined; carefully guarded.
  • a close prisoner
  • (obsolete) Out of the way of observation; secluded; secret; hidden.
  • * Bible, 1 Chron. xii. 1
  • He yet kept himself close because of Saul.
  • * Spenser
  • her close intent
  • Nearly equal; almost evenly balanced.
  • a close contest
  • Short.
  • to cut grass or hair close
  • (archaic) Dense; solid; compact.
  • * John Locke
  • The golden globe being put into a press, the water made itself way through the pores of that very close metal.
  • (archaic) Concise; to the point.
  • close reasoning
  • * Dryden
  • Where the original is close no version can reach it in the same compass.
  • (dated) Difficult to obtain.
  • Money is close .
    (Bartlett)
  • (dated) Parsimonious; stingy.
  • * Hawthorne
  • a crusty old fellow, as close as a vice
  • Adhering strictly to a standard or original; exact.
  • a close translation
    (John Locke)
  • Accurate; careful; precise; also, attentive; undeviating; strict.
  • The patient was kept under close observation.
    Synonyms
    * (at a little distance) close by, near, nearby * (intimate) intimate * muggy, oppressive * (articulated with the tongue body relatively close to the hard palate) high
    Antonyms
    * (at a little distance) distant, far, far away, far off, remote * (intimate) aloof, cool, distant * (articulated with the tongue body relatively close to the hard palate) open
    Derived terms
    * close call * closely * closeness * close shave * close-up * thisclose

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • An enclosed field.
  • (British) A street that ends in a dead end.
  • (Scotland) A very narrow alley between two buildings, often overhung by one of the buildings above the ground floor.
  • (Scotland) The common staircase in a tenement.
  • A cathedral close.
  • * Macaulay
  • closes surrounded by the venerable abodes of deans and canons.
  • (legal) The interest which one may have in a piece of ground, even though it is not enclosed.
  • (Bouvier)
    Synonyms
    * (street) cul-de-sac

    Statistics

    *