Meanings
plural body snatchers · alternative bodysnatcher · alternative body-snatcher
- derogatoryhumorousobsoleteslangOne 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.
1778 August 19, Public Advertiser1 more example
Look here, my body-snatchers, you have unlawfully abridged the liberty of one of the sons of the sovereign State of New York!
1877, R. Rae, Newport, section 40 - One who abducts or controls another's body, such as a slaver, psychic, or human resources agent.
South claims hundreds abducted by North Korea's ‘body snatchers’.
1994 August 9, “Newswire”, in Associated Press4 more examples
A black woman told Carrie not to say master and missis, because you were body-snatchers and slave-drivers.
1852, B.R. Hall, Frank Freeman's Barber Shop, xiv. 252Girls who can't let a man go by without reaching out for him. That's what I call them—body snatchers.
1894 September, Harper's Magazine, 581/2McCulloch had no compunction about using these executive recruiting firms. They were, he knew, often derisively called ‘body snatchers’, ‘head hunters’, ‘flesh peddlers’, and ‘pirates’.
1961 June, Fortune, 129/1‘What are you looking at?’ ‘An alien body snatcher who stole my partner and took her place.’
2000, C. Golden, Head Games, section 166 - historicalOne 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.
1819, J. H. Vaux, “New Vocab. Flash Lang.”, in Memoirs1 more example
So emboldened and careless did these body-snatchers become... that they no longer confined themselves to pauper graves.
1910, Encyclopædia Britannica, I. 937/2 - 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.
2008 March 19, Daily Record, Glasgow, section 9Synonyms: resurrectionist
- UKslanggovernmentA stretcher-bearer.
No men could have behaved more admirably than my Imperial bearer companies, or 'body snatchers,' as the men used to call them.
1917, General Buller, quotee, Military Medicine, volume 40, Association of Military Surgeons of the United States, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 3412 more examples
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.
1951, Great Britain. Army. Royal Army Medical Corps, Journal of the Royal Army Medical Corps, volumes 96-97, J. Bale, Sons & Danielson, Limited, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 410Tom 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.
2011, Robert W. Mackay, Soldier of the Horse, TouchWood Editions, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 185
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA graverobber who steals bodies or body parts.
alien
corpse-stealer
More synonyms by meaning
nounsomeone who takes bodies from graves and sells them for anatomical dissection
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
From body + snatcher. Later use highly influenced by the novel The Body Snatchers (1955) and its repeated adaptation into film, wherein aliens begin replacing humans with pod people.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Ancient Greek τυμβωρύχος
- τυμβωρύχος (tumbōrúkhos)One who secretly removes without right or authority a dead body from a grave
Danish ligrøver
- ligrøverOne who secretly removes without right or authority a dead body from a grave
Greek τυμβωρύχος
- τυμβωρύχος (tymvorýchos)One who secretly removes without right or authority a dead body from a grave
Italian ultracorpo
- ultracorpoOne who secretly removes without right or authority a dead body from a grave
Swedish likrövare, liktjuv
- likrövareOne who secretly removes without right or authority a dead body from a grave
- liktjuvOne who secretly removes without right or authority a dead body from a grave
- liksnattareOne who secretly removes without right or authority a dead body from a grave
- likrånareOne who secretly removes without right or authority a dead body from a grave
- likplundrareOne who secretly removes without right or authority a dead body from a grave
Turkish nebbaş, mezar soyguncusu
- nebbaşOne who secretly removes without right or authority a dead body from a grave
- mezar soyguncusuOne who secretly removes without right or authority a dead body from a grave
Cite this entry
body snatcher. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/body%20snatcher
“body snatcher.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/body%20snatcher. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “body snatcher,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/body%20snatcher.
Source: body snatcher on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.