snatched
Americanadjective
Etymology
Origin of snatched
First recorded in 1990–95; origin uncertain; possibly from regional American snatching “attractive” (1962); possibly from Black drag culture, where stage performers wear weaves (artificial hairweaves), and if something is amazingly good ( snatched ), it may snatch one's weave off, knock one's socks off (but the connection is unclear)
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.
It could be contrived and improbable and old-fashioned in its triumphs snatched from the jaws of defeat, and I completely loved it.
From Los Angeles Times • May 29, 2026
The raven and a “silent partner” then snatched the helpless goslings and devoured them—a machination to make Poe proud.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 22, 2026
More than $100 million in congressionally appropriated funds awarded to scholars, writers, archivists, and researchers across the country was snatched up in three days.
From Slate • May 14, 2026
Maduro, 63, and wife Cilia Flores have been held in a Brooklyn jail for almost three months after American commandos snatched the pair from their compound in Caracas in early January.
From Barron's • Mar. 26, 2026
Sarah snatched a small box of baking soda and poured it over the small flame until it went out.
From "Legendary Frybread Drive-In" by Cynthia Leitich Smith
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
