To grab or take something quickly and suddenly, often forcefully or without permission; can also mean brief moments or fragments of something.
From Middle English 'snacchen' and possibly from Scandinavian origins, the word originally meant 'to bite or snap at.' It evolved to mean any quick, sudden grabbing action.
The phrase 'in snatches' meaning 'in brief moments' is linguistically cool because the verb noun form shifted meaning—when you 'snatch sleep in snatches,' you're not grabbing sleep but experiencing it in small, separated pieces.
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