subs. (common).—1. A tooth: spec. a long, irregular tooth (B. E. and GROSE): also SNAGGLER: see GRINDERS. Whence SNAG-CATCHER = a dentist.
1717. PRIOR, Alma, ii. 148.
| In China none hold women sweet, | |
| Except their SNAGS are black as jet. |
2. (common).—An unsuspected hindrance or set-back. [Orig. American = a half sunken tree impeding river navigation.] Hence, as verb. = to embarrass. TO CATCH A SNAG = to get a rebuff, to get snubbed: cf. SNACK.
1881. W. PHILLIPS, Speeches, 38. Stagnant times have been when a great mind, anchored in error, might SNAG the slow moving current of society.
1901. Free Lance, 30 Nov., 220, 1. The nasty little SNAGS the average man of business is apt to encounter daily.
3. (old).—A snail (B. E. and GROSE).
TO SNAG ON, verb. phr. (American).—To attach oneself to another.
