body snatcher

Noun

body snatcher (plural body snatchers)

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. (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. 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

   Synonyms:

   resurrectionist

5. (UK, slang) 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.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