I. ˈsnapə(r) intransitive verb
Etymology: Middle English snaperen; akin to Middle High German snappen to snap, stumble, sway, chatter — more at snap
1. chiefly Scotland : stumble
2. chiefly Scotland : to commit an error : make a slip
II. noun
( -s )
chiefly Scotland : a false step : slip , faux pas
III. noun
( -s )
Etymology: snap (I) + -er
1. : something that snaps: as
a. snappers plural : castanets
b. : a small usually tasseled tip on a buggy whip
c. : cracker 2c
d.
(1) : greater stitchwort
(2) : bladder campion a
(3) : snap bean
e.
(1) : snapping turtle
(2) : green woodpecker
(3) : click beetle
(4) : phainopepla
f. : a bit of business, turn of phrase, or other matter that gives new orientation to a situation or utterance
g. : snap fastener
h. : a small clamshell bucket used especially for collecting samples of deep-sea mud and ooze
2. : a person that snaps or that snaps something especially by way of occupation: as
a. : an irritable snappish individual : one who answers or speaks curtly and cuttingly
b. : a glassworker who uses a snapdragon
c. : a taker of snapshots
d. : clipper II a ; also : a mine car brakeman or coupler
e. : snapper-back
3. plural sometimes snapper
a. : any of numerous active carnivorous fishes (family Lutjanidae) of warm seas that are important as food and often as sport fishes, commonly resemble bass, attain a length of about two feet, and are usually red or rose in deep-sea forms but often greenish above in shallow-water forms especially when young
b. : any of several immature fishes (as the young of the bluefish, rosefish, or red grouper) that somewhat resemble a snapper
c. : an important sparid food fish ( Pagrosomus auratus or P. unicolor ) of Australia and New Zealand that is usually pink or reddish with dark spots when young and becomes bright red when adult — see cock snapper
4. slang : whopper