Word.ws English Dictionary

snaphances

snaphances is the plural of snaphance.

Meaning of snaphance

Noun

snaphance (plural snaphances)

  1. A spring lock for discharging a firearm.
  2. The firearm to which it is attached.
  3. (obsolete) A trifling or second-rate thing or person.
    • [T]o make this realme a praye to al venturers, al ſpoylers, all ſnaphanſes, all forlornehopes, all cormerauntes, all reuenours of the worlde, that wyll inuade this realme, is to ſaye, thou poſſeſſyoner of any landes of this realme, of what degree ſo euer thou be, fro the higheſt to the loweſt...1539 April 9, Cuthbert Tunstall, A Sermon of Cuthbert Tonstall, Bishop of Durham, Preached on Palm Sunday, 1539, before King Henry VIII. […], London: […] [J. Compton, […]] for T[homas] Rodd, […]...
  4. (obsolete) A snappish retort.

Questions about snaphances

What is snaphances the plural of?
Snaphances is the plural of snaphance.

Words near snaphances in the dictionary

  1. Snapewife
  2. Snapewives
  3. snaphaan
  4. snaphaans
  5. snaphance
  6. snaphances
  7. snaphaunce
  8. snaphaunces
  9. snaphead
  10. snapheads
  11. snapin

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: snaphances (page history and authors); snaphance (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this entry: “snaphances.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/snaphances. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.