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snippet

UK/ˈsnɪpɪt/US/ˈsnɪpɪt/
nounC2Rare in speech; mostly a word you read · #14,028 of 15,258leans written

Other forms: snippets

A snippet is a small piece cut from something longer. A snippet of conversation, snippets of information, a useful snippet.

In computing it means a short reusable piece of code, which is now the commonest technical use. The -et ending is the same diminutive as in packet and pocket, so a snippet is a little snip.

Definitions of snippet

  1. 1nounsnippetA small piece cut from something longer.C2

    “I only heard a snippet of their conversation as I walked past.”

snippet is a piece.

Where it comes from

Snip plus the diminutive ending -et, the same ending as in packet and pocket.

  1. Low German

    snippen — to snip; shred

  2. Dutch

    snippen — to snip; shred

  3. English

    snip

  4. English, today

    snippet

From snip + et. Compare snippock. snip comes from Dutch snippen (“to snip; shred”) or Low German snippen (“to snip; shred”), of imitative of the sound origin. Compare snap.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practise this word

snippet in the wild

  • For this reason, best practice is to use a snippet only for relatively simple code such as a function prototype, control structure, or library import.

    Snippet (programming)

  • A snippet is typically used when an abstraction is not available (i.e. not supported by the programming language) or not desirable (i.e. due to runtime overhead).

    Snippet (programming)

  • A snippet of the track was first previewed on Kanye West's 2007 Can't Tell Me Nothing mixtape and featured an additional spoken word verse delivered by Malik Yusef.

    Stay Up! (Viagra)

  • The mixtape was made available to stream and download on November 4, 2008, containing snippets and demos from Fall Out Boy as well as various Decaydance artists.

    Welcome to the New Administration

  • Originally, a snippet of the song premiered in March 2012 during Timbaland's appearance on SXSW.

    Triple Threat (Missy Elliott song)

1 / 2

From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.

Related words

the snippen family

snip

snippet — used about once every 33,333 pages · #14,028 · point at the bar for the others