snatching

6 definitions • 11 examples

present participle of

to take hold of something suddenly and roughly:

He snatched the photos out of my hand before I had a chance to look at them.

Don't snatch, Isabel!

to take something or someone away by force:

The six-year-old girl was snatched from a playground and her body was found two days later.

She had her purse snatched (= stolen) while she was shopping.

to do or get something quickly because you only have a short amount of time:

Maybe you'll be able to snatch a couple of hours' sleep before dinner.

to get or win something, especially suddenly, unexpectedly, or by a small amount:

snatch a lead She quickly broke serve and snatched an early lead.

snatch an equaliser They snatched an equaliser in the closing seconds of the game.

snatch a draw They finally snatched a draw with an injury-time goal.

snatch something from someone Running the best race of his career, Fletcher snatched the gold medal from the Canadian champion.

in weightlifting, to lift a barbell (= a long bar with a weight on each end) from the floor to above the head in one continuous movement:

If you can't snatch the barbell, try a lighter bar.

There are videos that show you how to snatch correctly.