body snatcher

Etymology

Definitions

1. 1

   One who makes arrests, such as a bailiff or policeman.

   • They proved to be two of those Body-Snatchers, called hired Constables, who were patrolling the Fields.
   • Look here, my body-snatchers, you have unlawfully abridged the liberty of one of the sons of the sovereign State of New York!
2. 2

   One who abducts or controls another's body, such as a slaver, psychic, or human resources…

   One who abducts or controls another's body, such as a slaver, psychic, or human resources agent.

   • A black woman told Carrie not to say master and missis, because you were body-snatchers and slave-drivers.
   • Girls who can't let a man go by without reaching out for him. That's what I call them—body snatchers.
   • McCulloch had no compunction about using these executive recruiting firms. They were, he knew, often derisively called ‘body snatchers’, ‘head hunters’, ‘flesh peddlers’, and ‘pirates’.
3. 3

   One who sells cadavers to anatomists, surgeons, etc., especially by exhuming corpses from…

   One who sells cadavers to anatomists, surgeons, etc., especially by exhuming corpses from graves, a resurrection man.

   • Body-snatcher, a stealer of dead bodies from churchyards; which are sold to the surgeons and students in anatomy.
   • So emboldened and careless did these body-snatchers become... that they no longer confined themselves to pauper graves.
4. ›+ 2 more definitionsshow fewer

   1. 4

      A graverobber who steals bodies or body parts.

      • The head of a ring of bodysnatchers who stole the bones of broadcaster Alistair Cooke pleaded guilty yesterday.
   2. 5

      A stretcher-bearer.

      • No men could have behaved more admirably than my Imperial bearer companies, or 'body snatchers,' as the men used to call them.
      • Freezing conditions in the hills make essential the quick evacuation of wounded, and their regimental mates are full of praise for the sterling job done by the cheerful, tireless “body-snatchers” of the Battalion.
      • Tom dismounted and led Toby toward a group of men standing by a stack of stretchers. “Hey, you body snatchers,” he called out. “I have a wound that needs dressing.” He tied Toby to a stretcher.

The neighborhood

• synonympod personalien
• synonymresurrection mancorpse-stealer