body snatcher

== English == === Alternative forms === bodysnatcher, body-snatcher === Etymology === 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. === Pronunciation === === Noun === body snatcher (plural body snatchers) (slang, humorous, derogatory, obsolete) One who makes arrests, such as a bailiff or policeman. One who abducts or controls another's body, such as a slaver, psychic, or human resources agent. (historical) One who sells cadavers to anatomists, surgeons, etc., especially by exhuming corpses from graves, a resurrection man. (in particular) A graverobber who steals bodies or body parts. (British, military, slang) A stretcher-bearer. ==== Synonyms ==== (alien) pod person (corpse-stealer) resurrection man, resurrectionist ==== Translations ==== === References === Oxford English Dictionary, 3rd ed. "body snatcher, n." Oxford University Press (Oxford), 2010. “body-snatcher”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.