idiom (phrasal) · neutral
hit a snag
/hɪt ə snæɡ/hit·a·SNAG
speakingtask2
To encounter an unexpected problem or obstacle that delays or complicates progress.
Examples
“We hit a snag with the visa application and had to wait another month.”
“The project hit a snag when the main supplier went bankrupt.”
“Everything was going smoothly until we hit a snag at the testing stage.”
Band 8 sentence
“The construction was on schedule until they hit a snag with the foundation, forcing a redesign and delay.”
Collocations
- hit a snag in the negotiations
- hit a snag during testing
Word family
hit a snag idiomhit snags verb phrase (plural)
Common mistakes
hit a snaggle→hit a snag
hit the snag→hit a snag
Say it for a higher band
5have a problem→6run into trouble→7+hit a snag
Synonyms
encounter a problem
run into trouble
Easily confused
run into trouble
“We ran into trouble when the database crashed.”
Related words
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