snipe

[Mullins, Bill]

A recent usage of the snipe comes from the auction site eBay.  To "snipe"
there is to place a bid at the very last possible opportunity, such that no
one can respond to it before the auction ends.  It probably arose there from
the sense "to pick off".

The component of the word that means "last second" isn't in the OED (don't
have any of the other major dictionaries), but it seems to be migrating.
See here:

http://volokh.com/archives/archive_2004_11_00.shtml#1099323088

where one lecturer has been sniped in that another lecture was concurrently
scheduled (at the last minute) in order to divert attendees and attention
from his own lecture.