SNATCHING Synonyms: 72 Similar and Opposite Words

snatching 1 of 2

noun

as in theft

an instance of theft an industry in which the snatching of trade secrets is greatly feared

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snatching

2 of 2

verb

present participle of snatch

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

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of snatching

Noun

Schuman now faces a felony count of robbery by sudden snatching in addition to three misdemeanors — one count of battery, one count of petit theft and one count of criminal mischief, court records show. —

Angie Dimichele, Sun Sentinel, 13 May 2026 His co-defendant Cristian Montecino-Sanzana pleaded guilty to two counts related to one of the three thefts that Bustamante Leiva admitted — an April 12 purse-snatching at a Nando's restaurant. —

Kevin Breuninger, CNBC, 22 Apr. 2026 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

She was booked and charged with two counts of battery, robbery by snatching and criminal mischief. —

Colson Thayer, PEOPLE, 3 June 2026 Five people were arrested last week after a months-long investigation into a series of chain-snatching robberies in San Francisco, police said on Wednesday. —

Kassia Bonesteel, CBS News, 27 May 2026 All four keep impatiently cutting each other off, snatching the phone back and forth. —

Murtada Elfadl, Variety, 19 May 2026 Private equity swooped in for many, snatching up mattress company Casper, athleisure brand Outdoor Voices, women’s fashion upstart Reformation and jewelry retailer Catbird. —

Allison Morrow, CNN Money, 18 May 2026 The Unit was responsible for snatching former Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro. —

David Hookstead Outkick, FOXNews.com, 11 May 2026 Instead, Hull will face Millwall over two legs after snatching the sixth place that had been in Wrexham’s possession when the final day got underway. —

Richard Sutcliffe, New York Times, 3 May 2026 The suspect, identified by police as Abraham Recinos, was seen snatching tools from one home, then tossing them next door before walking to Bruce Casey’s residence. —

Ted Scouten, Miami Herald, 2 May 2026 Joaquín Guzmán, a former leader of the Chapitos, confessed to the 2024 kidnapping of Zambada, snatching him at a meeting, flying him by private plane to the United States and handing him over to authorities. —

Kate Linthicum, Los Angeles Times, 30 Apr. 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for snatching

Noun

In testimony before the House Committee on Ways and Means, Sheila Clark, President and CEO of the California Hospice and Palliative Care Association, warned that the damage goes far beyond the theft of tax dollars.

— Wes Kilgore, Forbes.com, 11 June 2026
Investigators later linked Love to thefts across Dallas‑Fort Worth, Denton County, and Oklahoma, police said.

— Doug Myers, CBS News, 11 June 2026