snatch
verb (used without object)
to make a sudden effort to seize something, as with the hand; grab (usually followed byat ).
had been snatching
-
past perfect progressiveof snatch.past perfect progressive
Used to describe an action that was ongoing continuously in the past up until another past event interrupted it.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Greg’s Towing had been snatching up cars for the Riverdale Park police department for nearly 30 years, and when Mamoun “Mike” Ashkar bought the company in 2014, he planned to maintain that tradition.
From Washington Post ● Jun. 15, 2018
Despite the $49.95 price tag, Seattleites had been snatching them up.
From "The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics" by Daniel James Brown
The examiner, who had been snatching tea, entered briskly and sternly.
From The Roll-Call by Arnold Bennett
About half an hour later the goddess herself arrived, shown in by Wiggleswick, who had been snatching the pipe of the over-driven by the front-gate.
From Septimus by William John Locke
"I had been snatching an hour's rest after a tiring day in the shade of a great pear tree."
From Punch or the London Charivari, September 9, 1914 by Sir Owen Seaman
