body snatcher
nounEtymology 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.
1
Derogatory, Humorous, Obsolete, Slang 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.1778 August 19, Public Advertiser:
- 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:
2
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.1852, B.R. Hall, Frank Freeman's Barber Shop, xiv. 252:
- Girls 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, 581/2:
3 more examples
- 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’.1961 June, Fortune, 129/1:
- South claims hundreds abducted by North Korea's ‘body snatchers’.1994 August 9, “Newswire”, in Associated Press:
- ‘What are you looking at?’ ‘An alien body snatcher who stole my partner and took her place.’2000, C. Golden, Head Games, section 166:
3
Historical 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.1819, J. H. Vaux, “New Vocab. Flash Lang.”, in Memoirs:
- So emboldened and careless did these body-snatchers become... that they no longer confined themselves to pauper graves.1910, Encyclopædia Britannica, I. 937/2:
4
In particular 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 9:
- 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 341:
- 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 410:
1 more example
- 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.2011, Robert W. Mackay, Soldier of the Horse, TouchWood Editions, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 185:
- Synonyms
- pod person, resurrection man, resurrectionist