morgue

American  

[mawrg] / mɔrg /

noun

1. a place in which bodies are kept, especially the bodies of victims of violence or accidents, pending identification or burial.

2. a reference file of old clippings, mats, books, etc., in a newspaper office.

3. the room containing such a reference file.

4. any place, as a room or file, where records, information, or objects are kept for unexpected but possible future use.

5. such records, information, or objects.

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morgue ¹ British  

/ mɔːɡ /

noun

1. another word for mortuary

2. informal a room or file containing clippings, files, etc, used for reference in a newspaper

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morgue ² British  

/ mɔrɡ /

noun

1. superiority; haughtiness

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Etymology

Origin of morgue

1815–25; < French; name of building in Paris housing unidentified dead bodies

Example Sentences

They gathered outside the local hospital where her body was lying in the morgue.

From BBC

Inside the hospital's morgue on Saturday, relatives peered beneath blankets to get a last glimpse of their loved ones.

From Barron's

The search might even involve visiting unmarked graves in the migrant sections of cemeteries or morgues.

From Barron's

On Friday, rescuers in Indonesia were struggling to reach the worst-affected areas of Sumatra island, while workers at a hospital in southern Thailand moved bodies into refrigerated trucks after the morgue exceeded capacity.

From Barron's

"The morgue has exceeded its capacity, so we need more," Charn, a morgue official at Songkhla Hospital who only gave his first name, told AFP.

From Barron's

Related Words

• funeral home