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Added 9 October 2026

snatch

/snæt͡ʃ/ noun

In Latin: rapiō Wiktionary

noun Definition from WordNet 3.1, Princeton University. Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about snatch at Wordnik → Where our words come from →

A small fragment.
overheard snatches of their conversation
Obscene terms for female genitals.
(law) the unlawful act of capturing and carrying away a person against their will and holding them in false imprisonment.

verb

To grasp hastily or eagerly.
Before I could stop him the dog snatched the ham bone
To make grasping motions.
the cat snatched at the butterflies
Take away to an undisclosed location against their will and usually in order to extract a ransom.
The industrialist's son was kidnapped

Origin

From Middle English snacchen, snecchen (“to snap; seize”), from Old English *snæċċan, *sneċċan, from Proto-West Germanic *snakkjan, from Proto-Germanic *snakjaną (“to whiff, sniff, catch wind of; to taste-test, nibble”), related to Proto-Germanic *snakōną (“to breathe, blow, sigh”) and *snakkōną (“to blather, jabber, chatter”). Cognate with Middle Dutch snacken (“to snap [of a dog]”), Norwegian Nynorsk snaka (“to snatch [of animals]”). Related also to Dutch snakken (“to sob, pant, long for”), Low German snacken (“to chatter”), German schnacken (“to chat”), Danish snakke (“to chat”) and Norwegian snakke (“to chat”). Related to snack.

From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)

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