carcass
Americannoun
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the dead body of an animal.
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Slang. the body of a human being, whether living or dead.
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the body of a slaughtered animal after removal of the offal.
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anything from which life and power are gone.
The mining town, now a mere carcass, is a reminder of a past era.
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an unfinished framework or skeleton, as of a house or ship.
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the body of a furniture piece designed for storage, as a chest of drawers or wardrobe, without the drawers, doors, hardware, etc.
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the inner body of a pneumatic tire, resisting by its tensile strength the pressure of the air within the tire, and protected by the tread and other parts.
verb (used with object)
noun
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the dead body of an animal, esp one that has been slaughtered for food, with the head, limbs, and entrails removed
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informal a person's body
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the skeleton or framework of a structure
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the remains of anything when its life or vitality is gone; shell
Related Words
See body.
Other Word Forms
- carcassless adjective
Etymology
Origin of carcass
First recorded in 1250–1300; from Middle French carcasse, from Italian carcassa; replacing Middle English carkeis, carkois, from Anglo-French, corresponding to Medieval Latin carcosium; ultimately origin obscure
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
"It was attracted to the outside of the carcass in a fluke event of preservation."
From Science Daily
Usually whale carcasses are disposed of by the landowner but scientists, who hold a licence from Natural England, are allowed to take animal bones for scientific and educational purposes if permission is granted.
From BBC
Tamer wolves would get more food, and the humans gradually came to rely on the wolves to clean up remains of messy carcasses and to raise the alarm if a predator came near.
From BBC
There is a strong stench of rotting flesh coming from a sheep's carcass that has been left to entice red kites to feed here.
From BBC
The cattle shortage has led companies to try to cut costs and scrape every morsel of meat off each cattle carcass.
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
