body snatcher

American  

noun

1. a person who steals corpses; graverobber.

2. Slang. an agency that recruits executives working for one company to fill top management positions in another.

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body snatcher British  

noun

1. (formerly) a person who robbed graves and sold the corpses for dissection

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Other Word Forms

• body snatching noun

Etymology

Origin of body snatcher

First recorded in 1805–15

Example Sentences

Vicaria’s genius inspires the neighborhood kids to christen her “mad scientist” and later, “body snatcher,” for she labors under the conviction that “death is a disease.”

From New York Times

Wait a second, how do we know you’re not an alien body snatcher pretending to be Jimmy!?

From Los Angeles Times

Is she a well-meaning lonely soul or some kind of malevolent body snatcher?

From New York Times

“If I asked for decaf or, heaven forbid, to put anything in my coffee — cream or any sweetener — they would know for sure that a body snatcher had taken over my body,” wrote Claudia.

From Washington Post

Former dental surgeon Michael Mastromarino was nicknamed “body snatcher” by the tabloids after he was charged with stealing tissue and bone from more than 1,000 corpses that sold for transplant and research.

From Fox News