snack
/snæk/noun, verb
A small amount of food eaten between meals
From Proto-Germanic *snakkōną (To smack the lips).
Lineage
The story
The history of snack begins with a mouth in motion: a bite, a snap, perhaps the quick grab of a dog’s teeth. Middle Dutch snacken meant “to snack,” and Wiktionary links it to a reconstructed Proto-Germanic verb for smacking the lips or opening the mouth to eat. English snack was recorded around 1300 as a verb meaning “to bite or snap,” while the familiar food meaning—a small bite or light meal—is attested by 1807. The path is not entirely settled: one account connects the verb with Scandinavian forms and snatch, while another emphasizes Middle Dutch and related Germanic words. So the snack on your plate carries an old sound-effect of eating: first the snap of a mouth, then the little meal.
Modern usage
An attractive person, described as looking good or delicious.
- Heard in
- internet slang