SNATCHING Synonyms: 72 Similar and Opposite Words

snatching 1 of 2

noun

Definition of snatching next

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

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

The open-sea tactic mirrors what the US did when tracking down tankers linked to Venezuela earlier this year – before eventually snatching President Nicolás Maduro in a raid. —

Brad Lendon, CNN Money, 22 Apr. 2026 Anthony Davis is facing charges of robbery by sudden snatching with a firearm or weapon and resisting an officer without violence. —

Ana Maria Soler, CBS News, 19 Apr. 2026 Davis was being held Sunday at the Broward County main jail on charges of robbery by sudden snatching with a firearm or weapon and resisting an officer without violence, jail records show. —

Sofia Saric, Miami Herald, 19 Apr. 2026 North Carolina, Arizona and Florida are also snatching away companies. —

Aldo Svaldi, Denver Post, 13 Apr. 2026 Cities like London and Paris have become known for phone snatching schemes, and locals use these chains to protect themselves. —

Rebecca Shinners, Travel + Leisure, 12 Apr. 2026 In addition to snatching small insects out of the air, hummingbirds eat spiders and even steal smaller insects caught in a spider’s web. —

Ernie Cowan, San Diego Union-Tribune, 12 Apr. 2026 Marcus Chisholm, 44, is accused of snatching the taco stand’s cash register from a cashier’s table and running to his car, police say. —

Mark Price april 9, Charlotte Observer, 9 Apr. 2026 Some even resorted to body snatching in the name of education. —

Tara Ramanathan, Encyclopedia Britannica, 25 Mar. 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for snatching

Noun

In addition to the theft scheme, authorities say the group fraudulently obtained nearly $275,000 in COVID-19 relief funds and used illicit earnings to acquire assets such as real estate, vehicles and other luxury items.

— Karen Garcia, Los Angeles Times, 23 Apr. 2026
Authorities say burglars have hit multiple homes in rapid succession, ransacking properties and targeting valuables, while other incidents, including a commercial copper wire theft that led to a police chase, highlight what officials describe as increasingly bold and coordinated criminal activity.

— Stepheny Price, FOXNews.com, 23 Apr. 2026