adipocere
a waxy substance produced by the decomposition of dead animal bodies in moist burial places or under water.
Origin of adipocere
1Other words from adipocere
- ad·i·poc·er·ous [ad-uh-pos-er-uhs], /ˌæd əˈpɒs ər əs/, adjective
Words Nearby adipocere
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use adipocere in a sentence
He is the first to observe and describe that curious product of the decomposition of flesh known to modern chemists as adipocere.
Hatchettine or rock-fat is sometimes called adipocere; and bog-butter is a substance nearly similar to it.
Besides, dead animal matter38 can be worked up more profitably than in making artificial adipocere.
There was not a trace of adipocere—the peculiar waxy soap that forms in bodies that decay in water or in a damp situation.
The Vanishing Man | R. Austin FreemanThe autopsy on the exhumed body of Perrotte Mace was inconclusive, owing to the condition of adipocere.
She Stands Accused | Victor MacClure
British Dictionary definitions for adipocere
/ (ˌædɪpəʊˈsɪə, ˈædɪpəʊˌsɪə) /
a waxlike fatty substance formed during the decomposition of corpses: Nontechnical name: grave-wax
Origin of adipocere
1Derived forms of adipocere
- adipocerous (ˌædɪˈpɒsərəs), adjective
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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