Snatch

• POS: Noun, Verb (intransitive), Verb (transitive)

CIDE DICTIONARY

Snatch, v. t. [OE. snachen, snechen; akin to D. snakken to gasp, to long (for), to desire. Cf. Snack, n., Sneck.].

•  To take or seize hastily, abruptly, or without permission or ceremony; as, to snatch a loaf or a kiss.  [1913 Webster]

  "When half our knowledge we must snatch, not take."  [1913 Webster]
•  To seize and transport away; to rap.  Thomson.  [1913 Webster]

Syn. -- To twitch; pluck; grab; catch; grasp; gripe.

Snatch, v. i. 

 To attempt to seize something suddenly; to catch; -- often with at; as, to snatch at a rope.  [1913 Webster]

Snatch, n. 

•  A hasty catching or seizing; a grab; a catching at, or attempt to seize, suddenly.  [1913 Webster]
•  A short period of vigorous action; as, a snatch at weeding after a shower.  Tusser.  [1913 Webster]

  "They move by fits and snatches."  [1913 Webster]
•  A small piece, fragment, or quantity; a broken part; a scrap.  [1913 Webster]

  "We have often little snatches of sunshine."  [1913 Webster]

  "Leave me your snatches, and yield me a direct answer."  [1913 Webster]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

Snatch, v. & n.
--v.tr.
1 seize quickly, eagerly, or unexpectedly, esp. with outstretched hands.
2 steal (a wallet, handbag, etc.).
3 secure with difficulty (snatched an hour's rest).
4 (foll. by away, from) take away or from esp. suddenly (snatched away my hand).
5 (foll. by from) rescue narrowly (snatched from the jaws of death).
6 (foll. by at) a try to seize by stretching or grasping suddenly. b take (an offer etc.) eagerly.
--n.
1 an act of snatching (made a snatch at it).
2 a fragment of a song or talk etc. (caught a snatch of their conversation).
3 US sl. a kidnapping.
4 (in weight-lifting) the rapid raising of a weight from the floor to above the head.
5 a short spell of activity etc.

Idiom

in (or by) snatches in fits and starts.

Derivative

snatcher n. (esp. in sense 3 of n.). snatchy adj.

Etymology

ME snecchen, sna(c)che, perh. rel. to SNACK

THESAURUS

Snatch

abduce, abduct, abduction, abstract, and, annex, apprehension, appropriate, arrest, arrestation, badger, bag, bit, blackmail, bob, boost, borrow, butt, capture, carry away, carry off, catch, catching, chip, chunk, clasp, clip, clipping, clutch, collaring, collop, cop, coup, crib, crimp, crumb, cut, cutting, defraud, deliver, desire, dollop, dragnet, embezzle, end, exact, extort, filch, flick, flip, flirt, flounce, force from, forcible seizure, fragment, get, gob, gobbet, grab, grab at, grabbing, grapple, grasp, hitch, hold, hold for ransom, hook, hunk, impress, jerk, jig, jigger, jigget, jiggle, jog, joggle, jump at, kidnap, kidnapping, lay hold of, levy blackmail, lift, lump, make off with, modicum, moiety, morsel, nab, nabbing, nail, nip, nip up, palm, paring, particle, picking up, piece, pilfer, pinch, pluck, poach, power grab, prehension, pry loose from, purloin, rasher, remove, rend, rend from, rescue, rip, rip from, run away with, running in, rustle, sample, save, scoop, scrap, screw, scrounge, segment, seize, seizure, seizure of power, shake down, shanghai, shard, shaving, shiver, shoplift, shred, skyjack, slice, sliver, smithereen, snack, snake, snap up, snare, snatch at, snatch from, snatching, snip, snippet, snitch, specimen, spirit away, splinter, squeeze, start, steal, stitch, stump, sudden pull, swindle, swipe, take, take hold of, taking in, taking into custody, tatter, tear from, thieve, throttle, tweak, twitch, walk off with, whip up, win, wrench, wrench from, wrest, wring, wring from, yank, yerk

ROGET THESAURUS

Snatch

Smallness

N smallness, littleness, tenuity, paucity, fewness, meanness, insignificance (unimportance), mediocrity, moderation, small quantity, modicum, trace, hint, minimum, vanishing point, material point, atom, particle, molecule, corpuscle, point, speck, dot, mote, jot, iota, ace, minutiae, details, look, thought, idea, soupcon, dab, dight, whit, tittle, shade, shadow, spark, scintilla, gleam, touch, cast, grain, scruple, granule, globule, minim, sup, sip, sop, spice, drop, droplet, sprinkling, dash, morceau, screed, smack, tinge, tincture, inch, patch, scantling, tatter, cantlet, flitter, gobbet, mite, bit, morsel, crumb, seed, fritter, shive, snip, snippet, snick, snack, snatch, slip, scrag, chip, chipping, shiver, sliver, driblet, clipping, paring, shaving, hair, nutshell, thimbleful, spoonful, handful, capful, mouthful, fragment, fraction, drop in the ocean, animalcule, trifle, mere nothing, next to nothing, hardly anything, just enough to swear by, the shadow of a shade, finiteness, finite quantity, small, little, diminutive, minute, fine, inconsiderable, paltry, faint, slender, light, slight, scanty, scant, limited, meager, sparing, few, low, so-so, middling, tolerable, no great shakes, below par, under par, below the mark, at a low ebb, halfway, moderate, modest, tender, subtle, inappreciable, evanescent, infinitesimal, homeopathic, very small, atomic, corpuscular, microscopic, molecular, subatomic, mere, simple, sheer, stark, bare, near run, dull, petty, shallow, stolid, ungifted, unintelligent, to a small extent, on a small scale, a little bit, a wee bit, slightly, imperceptibly, miserably, wretchedly, insufficiently, imperfectly, faintly, passably, pretty well, well enough, partially, in part, in a certain degree, to a certain degree, to a certain extent, comparatively, some, rather in some degree, in some measure, something, somewhat, simply, only, purely, merely, at least, at the least, at most, at the most, ever so little, as little as may be, tant soit peu, in ever so small a degree, thus far, pro tanto, within bounds, in a manner, after a fashion, so to speak, almost, nearly, well-nigh, short of, not quite, all but, near upon, close upon, peu s'en faut, near the mark, within an ace of, within an inch of, on the brink of, scarcely, hardly, barely, only just, no more than, about, thereabouts, somewhere about, nearly, say, be the same, be little more or less, no ways, no way, no wise, not at all, not in the least, not a bit, not a bit of it, not a whit, not a jot, not a shadow, in no wise, in no respect, by no means, by no manner of means, on no account, at no hand, dare pondus idonea fumo, magno conatu magnas nugas, small sands the mountain, moments make the year.

Taking

VB take, catch, hook, nab, bag, sack, pocket, put into one's pocket, receive, accept, reap, crop, cull, pluck, gather, draw, appropriate, expropriate, impropriate, assume, possess oneself of, take possession of, commandeer, lay one's hands on, clap one's hands on, help oneself to, make free with, dip one's hands into, lay under contribution, intercept, scramble for, deprive of, take away, carry away, bear away, take off, carry off, bear off, adeem, abstract, hurry off with, run away with, abduct, steal, ravish, seize, pounce upon, spring upon, swoop to, swoop down upon, take by storm, take by assault, snatch, reave, snap up, nip up, whip up, catch up, kidnap, crimp, capture, lay violent hands on, get hold of, lay hold of, take hold of, catch hold of, lay fast hold of, take firm hold of, lay by the heels, take prisoner, fasten upon, grip, grapple, embrace, gripe, clasp, grab, clutch, collar, throttle, take by the throat, claw, clinch, clench, make sure of, catch at, jump at, make a grab at, snap at, snatch at, reach, make a long arm, stretch forth one's hand, take from, take away from, disseize, deduct, retrench, dispossess, ease one of, snatch from one's grasp, tear from, tear away from, wrench from, wrest from, wring from, extort, deprive of, bereave, disinherit, cut off with a shilling, oust, divest, levy, distrain, confiscate, sequester, sequestrate, accroach, usurp, despoil, strip, fleece, shear, displume, impoverish, eat out of house and home, drain, drain to the dregs, gut, dry, exhaust, swallow up, absorb, draw off, suck the blood of, suck like a leech, retake, resume, recover.