as in grabbing
to take physical control or possession of (something) suddenly or forcibly
the brazen seagull snatched the french fry right from my hand
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of snatching
CNN Money, 13 Jan. 2026
Polls show that Londoners broadly feel safe in their town, although property theft, particularly phone snatching and shoplifting, has leapt up in recent years.
—Tim McDonnell, semafor.com, 13 Jan. 2026
Reactions from Moscow and Beijing to Maduro’s snatching have varied.
—Comfort Ero, Time, 9 Jan. 2026
Manipulation, threats, acts of physical and psychological violence (to oneself and others), as well as actual body snatching, were all part of Cipher’s brand while Linklater embodied Gen V’s season two big bad.
—Jackie Strause, HollywoodReporter, 24 Oct. 2025
While millions are riveted by Sunday’s seven-minute jewelry heist of Napoleonic jewels at the Louvre, another major sizable snatching, the 1990 break-in at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston, resurfaced in the news in a different way.
—Rosemary Feitelberg, Footwear News, 20 Oct. 2025
But the chick-snatching wasn't all terror and crib robbery, Parker stressed.
—Sophie Hartley, IndyStar, 3 Sep. 2025
Brian Mazique, Forbes.com, 25 Jan. 2026
Masked agents snatching preschoolers off the street and sending them to Texas detention centers serves none of those purposes.
—Ryan Mancini, The Hill, 22 Jan. 2026
The event will also include a Dolly look-alike contest, a baking contest using Dolly Parton’s Baking Mixes, complimentary chair massages, a nail pop-up bar and a wig-snatching competition.
—Mars Salazar, Austin American Statesman, 16 Jan. 2026
But aesthetic treatments that sharpen the contours of the face—snatching the jaw, inflating the lips—to give them more contrast in photos, can reduce and distort expression.
—Valerie Monroe, Allure, 15 Jan. 2026
With a soul-stealing, heart-snatching smile.
—Los Angeles Times, 11 Jan. 2026
Even snatching several of the top drug lords wouldn’t necessarily cripple a trade worth billions of dollars a year.
—Mary Beth Sheridan, CNN Money, 9 Jan. 2026
Studios and FilmRise, both of which are owned by private equity group Oaktree Capital Management, has been snatching up digital rights to library programming to build up its already sizable catalog.
—Scott Roxborough, HollywoodReporter, 9 Jan. 2026
That’s institutional investors snatching up homes by the hundreds and thousands at a time, crushing the dream of home ownership, and forcing rents too damn high for everyone else.
—Sacramento Bee Staff, Sacbee.com, 8 Jan. 2026
Noun
Many Londoners have firsthand experience of phone-snatching or have witnessed the surge in shoplifting documented by the Office for National Statistics.
—CNN Money, 13 Jan. 2026
Polls show that Londoners broadly feel safe in their town, although property theft, particularly phone snatching and shoplifting, has leapt up in recent years.
—Tim McDonnell, semafor.com, 13 Jan. 2026
Reactions from Moscow and Beijing to Maduro’s snatching have varied.
—Comfort Ero, Time, 9 Jan. 2026
Manipulation, threats, acts of physical and psychological violence (to oneself and others), as well as actual body snatching, were all part of Cipher’s brand while Linklater embodied Gen V’s season two big bad.
—Jackie Strause, HollywoodReporter, 24 Oct. 2025
While millions are riveted by Sunday’s seven-minute jewelry heist of Napoleonic jewels at the Louvre, another major sizable snatching, the 1990 break-in at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston, resurfaced in the news in a different way.
—Rosemary Feitelberg, Footwear News, 20 Oct. 2025
But the chick-snatching wasn't all terror and crib robbery, Parker stressed.
—Sophie Hartley, IndyStar, 3 Sep. 2025
Verb
Zayn winning in Montreal after eating an RKO and a Razor’s Edge, then snatching the pin on Priest with a Helluva Kick, gave you the biggest pop and the clearest storyline payoff of the night.
—Brian Mazique, Forbes.com, 25 Jan. 2026
Masked agents snatching preschoolers off the street and sending them to Texas detention centers serves none of those purposes.
—Ryan Mancini, The Hill, 22 Jan. 2026
The event will also include a Dolly look-alike contest, a baking contest using Dolly Parton’s Baking Mixes, complimentary chair massages, a nail pop-up bar and a wig-snatching competition.
—Mars Salazar, Austin American Statesman, 16 Jan. 2026
But aesthetic treatments that sharpen the contours of the face—snatching the jaw, inflating the lips—to give them more contrast in photos, can reduce and distort expression.
—Valerie Monroe, Allure, 15 Jan. 2026
With a soul-stealing, heart-snatching smile.
—Los Angeles Times, 11 Jan. 2026
Even snatching several of the top drug lords wouldn’t necessarily cripple a trade worth billions of dollars a year.
—Mary Beth Sheridan, CNN Money, 9 Jan. 2026
Studios and FilmRise, both of which are owned by private equity group Oaktree Capital Management, has been snatching up digital rights to library programming to build up its already sizable catalog.
—Scott Roxborough, HollywoodReporter, 9 Jan. 2026
That’s institutional investors snatching up homes by the hundreds and thousands at a time, crushing the dream of home ownership, and forcing rents too damn high for everyone else.
—Sacramento Bee Staff, Sacbee.com, 8 Jan. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for snatching
Noun
-
Owen Masters, 42, of West Bend, is facing two felony theft by contractor counts with an amount between $2,500 and $5,000 and a third felony count with an amount between $10,000 and $100,000, according to a criminal complaint filed in Milwaukee County Circuit Court.—
Erik S. Hanley,
jsonline.com,
5 Feb. 2026
-
Reports of catalytic converter and even taillight thefts are nothing new.—
Adam Ismail,
The Drive,
5 Feb. 2026
Verb
-
Hearing the faint sirens of the white police officers who have been monitoring the area for no real reason, Kid attempts to blend into the party by grabbing the mic of the bored DJ—played by Parliament-Funkadelic’s George Clinton—to freestyle.—
Alphonse Pierre,
Pitchfork,
13 Feb. 2026
-
Or, Stein recommends grabbing a bed/mattress vacuum that is made specifically for the mattress.—
Daley Quinn,
Southern Living,
12 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
Poll results from Japanese outlet NHK showed that the risk paid off, with the LDP winning 316 seats out of the 465 up for grabs in the House, well above the 233 needed for a simply majority.—
Zach LaChance,
The Washington Examiner,
8 Feb. 2026
-
Look for containers to house baking supplies, grab-and-go snacks, breakfast items, seasoning mixes, and hard-to-organize spice packets.—
Patricia Shannon,
Better Homes & Gardens,
8 Feb. 2026
Verb
-
This winter, there’s a roster of new cookbooks catching our team’s attention.—
The Bon Appétit,
Bon Appetit Magazine,
10 Feb. 2026
-
Emily Ratajkowski is catching flights, not feelings this year.—
Christina Perrier,
InStyle,
10 Feb. 2026
Verb
-
China is seizing an opportunity to challenge American dominance in global finance and exert greater international influence at the expense of the all-powerful US dollar.—
Stephanie Yang,
CNN Money,
4 Feb. 2026
-
Allegations include entering homes without warrants, stopping, intimidating and seizing legal observers, and detaining suspects by virtue of their appearance or accent.—
Yohuru Williams,
The Conversation,
4 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Snatching.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/snatching. Accessed 14 Feb. 2026.
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