body snatcher

• Eine Person, die illegal Leichen aus Gräbern stiehlt, meist für medizinische Sektionen oder Forschungszwecke; auch bildlich für jemanden, der etwas an sich reißt oder sich aneignet, das einem anderen gehört.

A person who illegally steals corpses from graves, typically for medical dissection or research purposes; also used figuratively to describe someone who takes over or appropriates something belonging to another.

1. Grave robberC1formal

   A person who illegally removes corpses from graves, typically for medical dissection or profit.

   Leichendieb

   • In the 19th century, body snatchers supplied cadavers to anatomy schools.
   • The cemetery installed iron cages to deter body snatchers.
   • Body snatchers were often called 'resurrectionists' in historical accounts.

2. Science fiction conceptB2informal

   An alien or entity that takes over a human body, often by replacing it or controlling it.

   Körperdieb

   • The movie 'Invasion of the Body Snatchers' is about alien duplicates.
   • Body snatchers in the story replaced people while they slept.
   • The concept of a body snatcher is a common trope in sci-fi.