body snatcher

• Pessoa que rouba ilegalmente cadáveres de sepulturas, geralmente para dissecação médica ou fins de pesquisa; também é usado em sentido figurado para descrever alguém que se apodera ou toma para si algo que pertence a outra pessoa.

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.

   Ladrão de corpos

   • 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.

   Sequestrador de corpos

   • 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.