snag

Meaning

Noun

1. A stump or base of a branch that has been lopped off; a short branch, or a sharp or rough branch.
2. A dead tree that remains standing.
3. A tree, or a branch of a tree, fixed in the bottom of a river or other navigable water, and rising nearly or quite to the surface, by which boats are sometimes pierced and sunk.
4. (broadly) Any sharp protuberant part of an object, which may catch, scratch, or tear other objects brought into contact with it.
5. A tooth projecting beyond the others; a broken or decayed tooth.
6. (figuratively) A problem or difficulty with something.
7. A pulled thread or yarn, as in cloth.
8. One of the secondary branches of an antler.

Verb

1. To catch or tear (e.g. fabric) upon a rough surface or projection.
2. To damage or sink (a vessel) by collision; said of a tree or branch fixed to the bottom of a navigable body of water and partially submerged or rising to just beneath the surface.
3. To fish by means of dragging a large hook or hooks on a line, intending to impale the body (rather than the mouth) of the target.
4. (slang, transitive) To obtain or pick up, especially in a quick or surreptitious way.
5. (UK, dialectal) To cut the snags or branches from, as the stem of a tree; to hew roughly.
6. (slang) To have noncommittal sexual relations.

Synonyms

hitch

catch

trouble

difficulty

hook

🪝

stub

grab

rip

tear

hassle

stump

rent

capture

split

problem

obstacle

smash

hang-up

butt

breach

seize

snaffle

nobble

inconvenience

rub

distress

dismantle

disinvest

carp

divest

break

disadvantage

impediment

impede

difficulties

cup

bag

conundrum

complicacy

bust up

complexity

glitch

foul

hit

collide

hole

🕳️

bust

barrier

flourish

fault

Translations

dificultad

accroc

intoppo

Schwierigkeit

difficulté

tocón

chicot

Haken

🪝

Stummel

δυσκολία

impigliare

Baumstumpf

difficoltà

Aststumpf

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ˈsnæɡ/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English: *snagge

Cognate with Old Norse: snag-hyrndr

Cognate with Norwegian: snag

Cognate with Icelandic: snagi

Cognate with Dutch: snoek

In summary

From earlier snag (“stump or branch of a tree”), from Middle English *snagge, *snage, from Old Norse snagi (“clothes peg”) (compare Old Norse snag-hyrndr (“snag-horned, having jagged corners”)), perhaps ultimately from a derivative of Proto-Germanic *snakk-, *snēgg, variations of *snakaną (“to crawl, creep, wind about”).
Compare Norwegian snag, snage (“protrusion; projecting point”), Icelandic snagi (“peg”). Also see Dutch snoek (“pike”).