Snag \Snag\, n. [Prov. E., n., a lump on a tree where a branch has been cut off; v., to cut off the twigs and small branches from a tree, of Celtic origin; cf. Gael. snaigh, snaidh, to cut down, to prune, to sharpen, p. p. snaighte, snaidhte, cut off, lopped, Ir. snaigh a hewing, cutting.]

1. A stump or base of a branch that has been lopped off; a short branch, or a sharp or rough branch; a knot; a protuberance.

The coat of arms Now on a naked snag in triumph borne. --Dryden.

2. A tooth projecting beyond the rest; contemptuously, a broken or decayed tooth. --Prior.

3. A tree, or a branch of a tree, fixed in the bottom of a river or other navigable water, and rising nearly or quite to the surface, by which boats are sometimes pierced and sunk.

4. (Zo["o]l.) One of the secondary branches of an antler.

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
 

Snag \Snag\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Snagged; p. pr. & vb. n. Snagging.]

1. To cut the snags or branches from, as the stem of a tree; to hew roughly. [Prov. Eng.]

--Halliwell.

2. To injure or destroy, as a steamboat or other vessel, by a snag, or projecting part of a sunken tree. [U. S.]

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)