body

[bod-ee]

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SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR body ON THESAURUS.COM

noun, plural bod·ies.

the physical structure and material substance of an animal or plant, living or dead.

a corpse; carcass.

the trunk or main mass of a thing: the body of a tree.

Anatomy, Zoology. the physical structure of a human being or animal, not including the head, limbs, and tail; trunk; torso.

Architecture. the principal mass of a building.

the section of a vehicle, usually in the shape of a box, cylindrical container, or platform, in or on which passengers or the load is carried.

Nautical. the hull of a ship.

Aeronautics. the fuselage of a plane.

Printing. the shank of a type, supporting the face.

Geometry. a figure having the three dimensions of length, breadth, and thickness; a solid.

Physics. a mass, especially one considered as a whole.

the major portion of an army, population, etc.: The body of the American people favors the president's policy.

the principal part of a speech or document, minus introduction, conclusion, indexes, etc.

a person: She's a quiet sort of body.

Law. the physical person of an individual.

a collective group: student body; corporate body.

Astronomy. an object in space, as a planet or star.

a separate physical mass or quantity, especially as distinguished from other masses or quantities.

consistency or density; richness; substance: This wine has good body. Wool has more body than rayon.

the part of a dress that covers the trunk or the part of the trunk above the waist.

Ceramics. the basic material of which a ceramic article is made.

verb (used with object), bod·ied, bod·y·ing.

to invest with or as with a body.

to represent in bodily form (usually followed by forth).

adjective

of or relating to the body; bodily.

of or relating to the main reading matter of a book, article, etc., as opposed to headings, illustrations, or the like.

Idioms

in a body, as a group; together; collectively: We left the party in a body.

keep body and soul together, to support oneself; maintain life: Few writers can make enough to keep body and soul together without another occupation.

Origin of body

before 900; Middle English; Old English bodig; akin to Old High German botah

Synonyms for body

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR body ON THESAURUS.COM

3. substance, bulk. 12. mass, group, throng, multitude; bulk, preponderance, majority.

Synonym study

1, 2. Body, carcass, corpse, cadaver agree in referring to a physical organism, usually human or animal. Body refers to the material organism of an individual, human or animal, either living or dead: the muscles in a horse's body; the body of a victim ( human or animal ). Carcass refers only to the dead body of an animal, unless applied humorously or contemptuously to the human body: a sheep's carcass; Save your carcass. Corpse refers only to the dead body of a human being: preparing a corpse for burial. Cadaver refers to a dead body, usually a corpse, particularly one used for scientific study: dissection of cadavers in anatomy classes.

Antonyms for body

12. handful, scattering, few.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for bodies

frame, carcass, torso, remains, party, individual, soul, person, box, material, skeleton, society, group, heart, shaft, embodiment, figure, form, makeup, tenement

Examples from the Web for bodies

Contemporary Examples of bodies

He observes the bodies floating away on the river, pulling on his cigarette with a sneer.
Houellebecq’s Incendiary Novel Imagines France With a Muslim President
Pierre Assouline
January 9, 2015
Their bodies were later found incinerated and buried in mass graves outside of town.
Why Mexicans Are Enraged by Obama’s Big Tuesday Meeting
Ruben Navarrette Jr.
January 6, 2015
Within hours, the Indonesian navy said dozens of bodies were being seen.
Wreckage, Bodies of AirAsia Crash Found
Lennox Samuels
December 30, 2014
Hundreds of cops saluting as the bodies were rolled out with a full escort by highway patrol.
Anger at The Cop Killer - And The Police
M.L. Nestel
December 21, 2014
These women interred the bodies of saints on their own properties and occasionally managed to influence papal politics.
First Anglican Woman Bishop A Return to Christian Roots
Candida Moss
December 18, 2014

Historical Examples of bodies

So soon as they reached it, Indians separated into two bodies.
The Exploring Expedition to the Rocky Mountains, Oregon and California
Brevet Col. J.C. Fremont
The door was piled with bodies, and the stone floor was slippery with blood.
The White Company
Arthur Conan Doyle
Girls and women are employed in examining the bodies of the moths with microscopes.
The Roof of France
Matilda Betham-Edwards
His body was laid away in the grave, where our bodies shall decay.
An Explanation of Luther's Small Catechism
Joseph Stump
So that their bodies might rear up, and no man resist their attack.
The Babylonian Legends of the Creation
British Museum

British Dictionary definitions for bodies

body

noun plural bodies

the entire physical structure of an animal or human beingRelated adjectives: corporeal, physical
(as modifier)body odour

the flesh, as opposed to the spiritwhile we are still in the body

the trunk or torso, not including the limbs, head, or tail

a dead human or animal; corpse

the largest or main part of anythingthe body of a vehicle; the body of a plant

a separate or distinct mass of water or land

the main part; majoritythe body of public opinion

the central part of a written workthe body of a thesis as opposed to the footnotes

a number of individuals regarded as a single entity; groupthe student body; they marched in a body

maths a three-dimensional region with an interior

physics an object or substance that has three dimensions, a mass, and is distinguishable from surrounding objects

fullness in the appearance of the hair

the characteristic full quality of certain wines, determined by the density and the content of alcohol or tannina Burgundy has a heavy body

substance or firmness, esp of cloth

the sound box of a guitar, violin, or similar stringed instrument

a woman's close-fitting one-piece garment for the torso

the part of a dress covering the body from the shoulders to the waist

another name for shank (def. 11)

the pigment contained in or added to paint, dye, etc
the opacity of a paint in covering a surface
the apparent viscosity of a paint

(in watercolour painting)

a white filler mixed with pigments to make them opaque
(as modifier)body colour See also gouache

printing the measurement from top to bottom of a piece of type, usually ascender to descender

an informal or dialect word for a person

keep body and soul together to manage to keep alive; survive

(modifier) of or relating to the main reading matter of a book as distinct from headings, illustrations, appendices, etcthe body text

verb bodies, bodying or bodied (tr)

(usually foll by forth) to give a body or shape to

Word Origin for body

Old English bodig; related to Old Norse buthkr box, Old High German botah body

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

Word Origin and History for bodies

body

Old English bodig "trunk, chest" (of a man or animal); related to Old High German botah, of unknown origin. Not elsewhere in Germanic, and the word has died out in German (replaced by leib, originally "life," and körper, from Latin). In English, extension to "person" is from late 13c. Meaning "main part" of anything was in late Old English, hence its use in reference to vehicles (1520s).

Contrasted with soul since at least mid-13c. Meaning "corpse" (short for dead body) is from late 13c. Transferred to matter generally in Middle English (e.g. heavenly body, late 14c.). Body politic "the nation, the state" first recorded 1520s, legalese, with French word order. Body image was coined 1935. Body language is attested from 1967, perhaps from French langage corporel (1966). Phrase over my dead body attested by 1833.

bodies in Medicine

body

[bŏd′ē]

n.

The entire material or physical structure of an organism, especially of a human.

The physical part of a person.

A corpse or carcass.

The trunk or torso of a human, as distinguished from the head, neck, and extremities.

The largest or principal part, as of an organ; corpus.

A physical thing or kind of substance.

Idioms and Phrases with bodies

body

In addition to the idioms beginning with body

body blow
body English

also see:

keep body and soul together
over my dead body