Library / English Dictionary

SNATCH

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

The act of catching an object with the hands

Example:

the infielder's snap and throw was a single motion

Synonyms:

catch; grab; snap; snatch

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Hypernyms ("snatch" is a kind of...):

touch; touching (the act of putting two things together with no space between them)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "snatch"):

fair catch ((American football) a catch of a punt on the fly by a defensive player who has signalled that he will not run and so should not be tackled)

interception ((American football) the act of catching a football by a player on the opposing team)

reception ((American football) the act of catching a pass in football)

rebound (the act of securing possession of the rebounding basketball after a missed shot)

shoestring catch ((baseball) a running catch made near the ground)

interlock; interlocking; mesh; meshing (the act of interlocking or meshing)

Derivation:

snatch (to make grasping motions)

snatch (to grasp hastily or eagerly)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A weightlift in which the barbell is lifted overhead in one rapid motion

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Hypernyms ("snatch" is a kind of...):

weightlift; weightlifting (bodybuilding by exercise that involves lifting weights)

Sense 3

Meaning:

(law) the unlawful act of capturing and carrying away a person against their will and holding them in false imprisonment

Synonyms:

kidnapping; snatch

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Hypernyms ("snatch" is a kind of...):

capture; seizure (the act of taking of a person by force)

Domain category:

jurisprudence; law (the collection of rules imposed by authority)

Derivation:

snatch (take away to an undisclosed location against their will and usually in order to extract a ransom)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Obscene terms for female genitals

Synonyms:

cunt; puss; pussy; slit; snatch; twat

Classified under:

Nouns denoting body parts

Hypernyms ("snatch" is a kind of...):

fanny; female genital organ; female genitalia; female genitals (external female sex organs)

Sense 5

Meaning:

A small fragment

Example:

overheard snatches of their conversation

Synonyms:

bit; snatch

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Hypernyms ("snatch" is a kind of...):

fragment (an incomplete piece)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

To make grasping motions

Example:

the cat snatched at the butterflies

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

snatch (the act of catching an object with the hands)

Sense 2

Meaning:

To grasp hastily or eagerly

Example:

Before I could stop him the dog snatched the ham bone

Synonyms:

snap; snatch; snatch up

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Hypernyms (to "snatch" is one way to...):

clutch; prehend; seize (take hold of; grab)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "snatch"):

swoop; swoop up (seize or catch with a swooping motion)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody

Derivation:

snatch (the act of catching an object with the hands)

snatcher (a thief who grabs and runs)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Take away to an undisclosed location against their will and usually in order to extract a ransom

Example:

The industrialist's son was kidnapped

Synonyms:

abduct; kidnap; nobble; snatch

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Hypernyms (to "snatch" is one way to...):

seize (take or capture by force)

Domain category:

crime; criminal offence; criminal offense; law-breaking ((criminal law) an act punishable by law; usually considered an evil act)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "snatch"):

impress; shanghai (take (someone) against his will for compulsory service, especially on board a ship)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s somebody

Derivation:

snatch ((law) the unlawful act of capturing and carrying away a person against their will and holding them in false imprisonment)

snatcher (someone who unlawfully seizes and detains a victim (usually for ransom))

Credits

 Context examples: 

A few jokes and snatches of humorous verse, sold to the New York weeklies, made existence barely possible for him.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

I remember, a thrush had the confidence to snatch out of my hand, with his bill, a of cake that Glumdalclitch had just given me for my breakfast.

(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)

Anne Elliot, so young; known to so few, to be snatched off by a stranger without alliance or fortune; or rather sunk by him into a state of most wearing, anxious, youth-killing dependence!

(Persuasion, by Jane Austen)

Always she aroused with a start, snatching up the gun and swiftly looking at him.

(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)

George and Owen were singing snatches of songs and gibbering like two great apes.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

The following day the king’s daughter again called to him that he was to bring her a wreath of field-flowers, and then he went in with it, she instantly snatched at his cap, and wanted to take it away from him, but he held it fast with both hands.

(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)

Hannah nodded without speaking, for her lips twitched nervously, Meg dropped down into a chair as the strength seemed to go out of her limbs at the sound of those words, and Jo, standing with a pale face for a minute, ran to the parlor, snatched up the telegram, and throwing on her things, rushed out into the storm.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

She was not much hurt, but in her fall one of the Silver Shoes came off; and before she could reach it, the Witch had snatched it away and put it on her own skinny foot.

(The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum)

Researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine created a magnetic wire that could, in theory, be inserted into a person's vein, where it could snatch up tumor cells that had been magnetized by special nanoparticles.

(Magnetic Wires May Soon Be Used in Your Veins to Detect Cancer Earlier, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

Miss Temple's whole attention was absorbed by the patients: she lived in the sick-room, never quitting it except to snatch a few hours' rest at night.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)