Embalm

4 definitions found

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

  Embalm \Em*balm"\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Embalmed}; p. pr. & vb.
     n. {Embalming}.] [F. embaumer; pref. em- (L. in) + baume
     balm. See {Balm}.]
     1. To anoint all over with balm; especially, to preserve from
        decay by means of balm or other aromatic oils, or spices;
        to fill or impregnate (a dead body), with aromatics and


        drugs that it may resist putrefaction.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              Joseph commanded his servants, the physicians, to
              embalm ?is father; and the physicians embalmed
              Israel.                               --Gem. l. 2.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. To fill or imbue with sweet odor; to perfume.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              With fresh dews embalmed the earth.   --Milton.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     3. To preserve from decay or oblivion as if with balm; to
        perpetuate in remembrance.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              Those tears eternal that embalm the dead. --Pope.
        [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  embalm
       v : preserve a dead body

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

  49 Moby Thesaurus words for "embalm":
     anhydrate, aromatize, blast-freeze, brine, cense, corn, cure,
     dehydrate, desiccate, dry, dry-cure, dry-salt, eternalize,
     eternize, evaporate, freeze, freeze-dry, fume, fumigate,
     immortalize, incense, irradiate, jerk, keep alive, keep fresh,
     kipper, lay out, lie in state, marinade, marinate, monumentalize,
     mummify, odorize, perennialize, perfume, perpetuate, pickle,
     preservatize, preserve, preserve from oblivion, quick-freeze,
     refrigerate, salt, scent, season, smoke, smoke-cure, stuff,
     thurify
  
  

From THE DEVIL'S DICTIONARY ((C)1911 Released April 15 1993) [devils]:

  EMBALM, v.i.  To cheat vegetation by locking up the gases upon which
  it feeds.  By embalming their dead and thereby deranging the natural
  balance between animal and vegetable life, the Egyptians made their
  once fertile and populous country barren and incapable of supporting
  more than a meagre crew.  The modern metallic burial casket is a step
  in the same direction, and many a dead man who ought now to be
  ornamenting his neighbor's lawn as a tree, or enriching his table as a
  bunch of radishes, is doomed to a long inutility.  We shall get him
  after awhile if we are spared, but in the meantime the violet and rose
  are languishing for a nibble at his _glutoeus maximus_.