Skip to content

happer

to snap up

verb ah-PEH Rare
Body & Health Movement

Also means

to strike (and seize)

Usage Note

Happer describes the sudden seizing of something with the mouth or a tool — a bird happe an insect, a train happe a pedestrian (strikes and drags). The 'h' is aspirate, so no elision: le happer, not l'happer. The image is always of a rapid, catching motion.

Examples

"Le chien a happé la balle au vol."

Natural Translation

The dog snapped up the ball in mid-air.

Explore French by topic