snatch (subs.) Copy link • snatch (subs.): usu. in phr.: to make a s. at, expr. by verb (v. to snatch at). Phr.: s.s of sunshine, *sol interdum nubibus interfulgens (based on Liv. 28, 23, med.: aurum cumulo aliarum rerum interfulgens): by s.s of moonlight, per incertam lunam, Virg. Aen. 6, 270: to do a thing by s.s, *carptim ac temere agere (v. fit, subs., II.): cf. per intervalla, Plin. 8, 42, 66, § 164: to sing a s. of a song, perh. *carptim, interrupte cantare. See fitfully, random (at).