Corpse

4 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Corpse \Corpse\ (k[^o]rps), n. [OF. cors (sometimes written
     corps), F. corps, L. corpus; akin to AS. hrif womb. See
     {Midriff}, and cf. {Corse}, {Corselet}, {Corps}, {Cuerpo}.]
     1. A human body in general, whether living or dead; --
        sometimes contemptuously. [Obs.]
        [1913 Webster]


  
     Note: Formerly written (after the French form) corps. See
           {Corps}, n., 1.
           [1913 Webster]
  
     2. The dead body of a human being; -- used also Fig.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              He touched the dead corpse of Public Credit, and it
              sprung upon its feet.                 --D. Webster.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     {Corpse candle}.
        (a) A thick candle formerly used at a lich wake, or the
            customary watching with a corpse on the night before
            its interment.
        (b) A luminous appearance, resembling the flame of a
            candle, sometimes seen in churchyards and other damp
            places, superstitiously regarded as portending death.
            
  
     {Corpse gate}, the gate of a burial place through which the
        dead are carried, often having a covered porch; -- called
        also {lich gate}.
        [1913 Webster] Corpulence

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  corpse
       n : the dead body of a human being [syn: {cadaver}, {stiff}, {clay},
            {remains}]

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  49 Moby Thesaurus words for "corpse":
     ashes, barebones, bean pole, beanstalk, body, bones, broomstick,
     cadaver, carcass, carrion, clay, clothes pole, corpus delicti,
     crowbait, dead body, dead man, dead person, decedent, dry bones,
     dust, earth, embalmed corpse, food for worms, lanky, late lamented,
     mortal remains, mummification, mummy, organic remains, rattlebones,
     relics, reliquiae, remains, shadow, skeleton, slim, spindlelegs,
     spindleshanks, stack of bones, stiff, stilt, tenement of clay,
     the dead, the deceased, the defunct, the departed, the loved one,
     twiggy, walking skeleton
  
  

From Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856) [bouvier]:

  CORPSE. The dead body (q.v.) of a human being. Russ. & Ry. 366, n.; 2 T. R. 
  733; 1 Leach, 497; 16 Eng. Com. L. Rep. 413; 8 Pick. 370; Dig. 47, 12, 3, 7 
  Id. 11, 7, 38; Code, 3, 441. 
       2. As a corpse is considered as nullius bonis, or the property of no 
  one, it follows that stealing it, is not, at common law, a larceny. 3 Inst. 
  203.