Definition of "snapping"

Snappings, audible or palpable, were noted in 45 cases (77 per cent). They were either heard in the course of the examination (about half), or were mentioned in the anamnesis.

1947, Karl August Boman, Temporomandibular joint arthrosis and its treatment by extirpation of the disk

There is a snaky gleam in her hard grey eye, as of anticipated rounds of buttered toast, relays of hot chops, worryings and quellings of young children, sharp snappings at poor Berry, and all the other delights of her Ogress's castle.

1846 October 1 – 1848 April 1, Charles Dickens, Dombey and Son, London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published 1848