snap to

English

Etymology

Ellipsis of snap to attention.

Verb

snap to (third-person singular simple present snaps to, present participle snapping to, simple past and past participle snapped to)

1. (intransitive) To suddenly give someone one's full attention.
   • 1958 May, Avram Davidson, “Or All The Seas With Oysters”, in Galaxy Science Fiction‎^[1], page 52:

     There was a young woman in the shop, a rather massively built young woman with muscular calves and a deep chest. She was pointing out the seat of her bicycle to Oscar, who was saying "Uh-huh" and looking more at her than at anything else "It's just a little too far forward […] " Oscar repeated, "Uh-huh" automatically, then snapped to. "Fix it in a jiffy," he said […]