as in to grab
to take physical control or possession of (something) suddenly or forcibly
I snapped up the last remaining cupcake before anyone else could get their mitts on it
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for snap (up)
Verb
-
Rivera’s defense team contended that the gun went off inadvertently in a struggle after Rosen reached into the car and grabbed Rivera.—
John Annese,
New York Daily News,
27 Apr. 2026 -
Walsh locked down Maxey out of a Sixers timeout to force a turnover, and the Celtics grabbed four offensive rebounds on one first-quarter possession, with Walsh and Scheierman accounting for three of them.—
Zack Cox,
Boston Herald,
27 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
Overall, about half of children with the disease are infected during birth, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia said, while others caught it from family members.—
Cara Lynn Shultz,
PEOPLE,
29 Apr. 2026
-
In 2023, the NCAA put in guidelines that punish athletes caught gambling on their own school, or other sports at their school, with a permanent loss of eligibility.—
Trey Wallace OutKick,
FOXNews.com,
29 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
The one big missing piece was seeing her team finally capture an elusive state championship.—
Buddy Collings,
The Orlando Sentinel,
29 Apr. 2026
-
One giant company trying to capture a single leader’s judgment and broadcast it across thousands of people.—
Mukund Jha,
Fortune,
28 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
Bain snatched the hat but marched defiantly straight to the stage to greet Goodell.—
Rick Stroud,
The Orlando Sentinel,
1 May 2026
-
Anthony Stevens is accused of three chain-snatching robberies that happened on April 20 near the 1500 block of Martin Luther King Avenue, close to Long Beach Polytechnic High School.—
Julie Sharp,
CBS News,
1 May 2026
Verb
-
That collapse is spurred not just by Napoleon, but also outside pressure from the human-run Pilkington Corporation, intent on reclaiming the freedom that these precious cartoon animals just seized.—
Alison Foreman,
IndieWire,
30 Apr. 2026
-
Israel and Egypt have imposed varying degrees of a blockade on Gaza since Hamas seized power from rival Palestinian forces in 2007.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
30 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
At the lone practice open to the media, Watson led the quarterback rotation in most drills, but Monken said the plan called for Sanders to get more reps overall.—
Chantz Martin,
FOXNews.com,
2 May 2026
-
There’s plenty of room to step back and get some perspective.—
Glenn Adamson,
Artforum,
2 May 2026
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Cite this Entry
“Snap (up).” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/snap%20%28up%29. Accessed 4 May. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
