Snag

n. [Prov. Eng., a lump on a tree where a branch has been cut off, to cut off the twigs and small branches from a tree, from Gael. & Ir. snaigh, snaidh, to cut down, to prune, to sharpen, p. p. snaighthe, snaidhte, cut off, lopped.] 1. A short branch, or a sharp or rough branch; a shoot; a knot. The coat of arms Now on a naked snag in triumph borne. Dryden.

2. A tooth, in contempt; or a tooth projecting beyond the rest. Prior.
3. The trunk of a large tree firmly fixed to the bottom of a river at one end, and rising nearly or quite to the surface at the other end, by which steamboats and other vessels are often pierced and sunk. [U. S.]