How do you use the word "snatch" in a sentence?

Q: How do you use the word "snatch" in a sentence?

Here are real-life examples of using "snatch": Love is something that you can neither snatch away nor express. You have to snatch at happiness when you can.

Snatch Meaning

/snæt͡ʃ/

Definition, CEFR level B2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.

Definition

verbTo grasp and remove quickly.

verbTo attempt to seize something suddenly.

Sentence Examples

Love is something that you can neither snatch away nor express.

You have to snatch at happiness when you can.

Synonyms & Antonyms

Synonyms:

slit snap kidnapping

Antonyms:

None

CEFR Practice Quiz

The thief tried to ____ the purse from the woman walking home alone.

CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)

The thief tried to ____ the woman's expensive handbag and run away through the crowded market.

Word Origin & History

From Middle English snacchen, snecchen (“to snap; seize”), from Old English *snæċċan, *sneċċan, from Proto-West Germanic *snakkjan, from Proto-Germanic *snakjaną (“to whiff, sniff, catch wind of; to taste-test, nibble”), related to Proto-Germanic *snakōną (“to breathe, blow, sigh”) and *snakkōną (“to blather, jabber, chatter”). Cognate with Middle Dutch snacken (“to snap [of a dog]”), Norwegian Nynorsk snaka (“to snatch [of animals]”). Related also to Dutch snakken (“to sob, pant, long for”), Low German snacken (“to chatter”), German schnacken (“to chat”), Danish snakke (“to chat”) and Norwegian snakke (“to chat”). Related to snack.

Literary Quotations & Historical Citations

"Snatch me to heaven." — a. 1749 (date written), James Thomson, “Autumn”, in The Seasons, London: […] A[ndrew] Millar, and sold by Thomas Cadell, […], published 1768, →OCLC:

""How many times have I told you?" she cried, and seized him and snatched his stick away from him." — 1922 October 26, Virginia Woolf, chapter 2, in Jacob’s Room, Richmond, London: […] Leonard & Virginia Woolf at the Hogarth Press, →OCLC; republished London: The Hogarth Press, 1960, →OCLC:

"Laura snatches coins from inside a truck to make a telephone call, scrounges shoes and clothes for them at a municipal beach, schemes to get a room key so she and Howie can sleep overnight in the Starlight Motel, steals a Jeepster from a deputy sheriff who's trying to arrest them." — 1987 November 8, Ron Hansen, “CHILDREN'S BOOKS; DISCOVERING THE OPPOSITE SEX”, in The New York Times:

"But, with United fans in celebratory mood as it appeared their team might snatch glory, they faced an anxious wait as City equalised in stoppage time." — 2012 May 13, Alistair Magowan, “Sunderland 0-1 Man Utd”, in BBC Sport:

"It was a joy to snatch some brief respite, and find himself in the rectory drawing–room. Listening here was as pleasant as talking; just to watch was pleasant. The young priests who lived here wore cassocks and birettas; their faces were fine and mild, yet really strong, like the rector's face; and in their intercourse with him and his wife they seemed to be brothers." — 1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter X, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:

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