to snatch up
24
4.6
- phrasal verb
- /snæʧ ʌp/
:
agarrar
- When the store opened, customers hurried in to snatch up the discounted items.
- snatched up tickets
- snatched up every copy
- snatched up the receiver
They're they're swooping in trying to snatch up the the rich guy's place.
- They're they're swooping in trying to snatch up the the rich guy's place.
- All right, crypto miners are now snatching up AMD CPU.
- Like they would come snatch you up if you cut school.
- I used to go into my mom's room and snatch all her makeup up, bring it into my room and just like have fun.
- And if you messed up, Miss Rose would snatch you up and she might give you a little whooping and then tell your Mama.
Examples
-
Yes, Cy-Fi's here signing that TV deal, and they should be snatching up Uncle John as we speak.
-
Arnold whisks across the floor in his chair and snatches up the nearest phone.
Fiction book (1993) -
The phone was in its fourth ring when he snatched it up.
Fiction book (1995) -
You will snatch up the hostage and carry him to safety.
-
But the widow reaches down quickly, before the girl, and snatches it up herself.
Fiction book (1995) -
I used to go into my mom's room and snatch all her makeup up, bring it into my room and just like have fun.
-
Thinking it might be Marissa, I snatched up my plate and the pasta bowl and made for the kitchen.
Fiction book (1995) -
I'm surprised some Ivy League psych department hasn't snatched you up.
-
Hael thrust three throwing sticks into his belt and snatched up a javelin.
Fiction book (1990) -
The barman set the newly filled pint stein down, and Casimir snatched it up.
Fiction book (1992)
Synonyms
∞
1.0
To take hold of a moving person or thing to stop it
∞
1.0
To take hold of something quickly with your hand
884
2.8
To catch and take control of someone or something after a chase
834
1.0
To lift something or someone from the ground with your hands
277
3.2
To take control of a place or person quickly, often by force
136
3.0
To take something quickly with your hand
65
1.6
Grab something quickly with a sudden motion
47
2.8
To lift or pick up something quickly with your hand
24
2.5
To take something in your hand
21
3.1
Grab something or someone with your hands
19
5.3
To quickly use an idea or chance to get an advantage
14
3.7
Buy something quickly before other people do
1
4.2
Pick something up quickly by moving down fast
To take a chance quickly before other people do
To take something quickly often before others notice
Antonyms
How Quick
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'to seize or take something quickly' is directly built from 'snatch' (to take hold suddenly) plus the particle 'up' signaling movement or completion; together they yield the predictable sense of grabbing something quickly. This verb+up composition is a common, compositional English pattern, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents would readily infer the MWE meaning.
Etymology
The phrasal verb snatch up comes from the simple image of quickly grabbing something with your hand: to snatch it up in one sudden move, like a child taking a toy or a shopper grabbing a bargain. That's why it now means 'to seize or take something quickly'.