SNACK

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does snack mean? 

• SNACK (noun)
  The noun SNACK has 1 sense:

1. a light informal meal

  Familiarity information: SNACK used as a noun is very rare.

• SNACK (verb)
  The verb SNACK has 1 sense:

1. eat a snack; eat lightly

  Familiarity information: SNACK used as a verb is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• SNACK (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A light informal meal

Classified under:

Nouns denoting foods and drinks

Synonyms:

bite; collation; snack

Hypernyms ("snack" is a kind of...):

meal; repast (the food served and eaten at one time)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "snack"):

refreshment (snacks and drinks served as a light meal)

nosh ((Yiddish) a snack or light meal)

coffee break; tea break (a snack taken during a break in the work day)

Derivation:

snack (eat a snack; eat lightly)

• SNACK (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they snack    ... he / she / it snacks   
Past simple: snacked   
Past participle: snacked   
-ing form: snacking   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Eat a snack; eat lightly

Classified under:

Verbs of eating and drinking

Synonyms:

nosh; snack

Context example:

She never loses weight because she snacks between meals

Hypernyms (to "snack" is one way to...):

eat (eat a meal; take a meal)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "snack"):

browse; graze (eat lightly, try different dishes)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s PP

Sentence example:

Sam and Sue snack

Derivation:

snack (a light informal meal)

snacker (someone who eats lightly or eats snacks between meals)

 Context examples 

Disability Assessment for Dementia (DAD) Prepare or cook a light meal or a snack safely?

(DAD - Safely Prepare or Cook a Light Meal or Snack, NCI Thesaurus)

Disability Assessment for Dementia (DAD) Decide to prepare a light meal or snack for himself/herself?

(DAD - Decide to Prepare a Light Meal or Snack for Himself/Herself, NCI Thesaurus)

They were then allowed to choose their own meals and snacks for the rest of the day.

(Molecular ties between lack of sleep and weight gain, NIH)

Disability Assessment for Dementia (DAD) Adequately plan a light meal or snack (ingredients, cookware)?

(DAD - Adequately Plan a Light Meal or Snack, NCI Thesaurus)

When you want to go a bit of exploring, you just ask old John, and he'll put up a snack for you to take along.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

The vast disk is nearly 2 trillion miles wide, and may have formed from an unseen companion star that snacked on the outer envelope of the newly formed Wolf-Rayet.

(Hubble Observes One-of-a-Kind Star Nicknamed 'Nasty', NASA)

The next time you’re hungry for a snack, you may want to grab a handful of nuts, as new research suggests they lower the risk of heart disease, cancer and other diseases.

(Daily Handful of Nuts Reduces Disease Risk, VOA)

BPA is used in many kinds of packaging for snacks and drinks, canned foods, and water bottles.

(Do Food Container Chemicals Make Us Fat?, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

Eating high-fibre foods is important when it comes to satisfying hunger, since these foods reduce snacking and therefore help control energy intake and promote healthier food choices.

(Researchers reveal potential of bread that suppresses appetite, University of Granada)

Many snacks picked up at the checkout may be unplanned, impulse buys – and the options tend to be confectionary, chocolate or crisps.

(Removing sweets and crisps from supermarket checkouts linked to dramatic fall in unhealthy snack purchases, University of Cambridge)