cadaver

[kuh-dav-er]

noun

1. a dead body, especially a human body to be dissected; corpse.

cadaver

/ kəˈdeɪvə, -ˈdɑːv- /

noun

1. med a corpse

Other Word Forms

• cadaveric adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of cadaver¹

1350–1400; Middle English < Latin cadāver dead body, corpse; akin to cadere to fall, perish ( decay, chance )

Word History and Origins

Origin of cadaver¹

C16: from Latin, from cadere to fall

Synonym Study

See body.

Example Sentences

A volunteer team using cadaver detection dogs to search for the body of a British child who disappeared in Australia more than 50 years ago has found an "area of interest".

Read more on BBC

Images coming out of Bogo show cadaver bags lined on the street and hundreds being treated in tent hospitals.

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Some of their customers are universities, which use cadavers to train doctors.

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On Sunday, news helicopters captured sheriff’s investigators and Jake Haro in a bright orange jumpsuit in a dry grass-covered shoulder of the westbound 60 freeway near Gilman Springs Road, joined by cadaver dogs.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Investigators coordinated with multiple police agencies, drone pilots, cadaver dog handlers and volunteer search-and-rescue crews to look for Pittman, until they exhausted those efforts.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• carcass 
• corpse 
• skeleton 

When To Use

What is a cadaver?

A cadaver is a dead body, especially a dead human body.The word cadaver is sometimes used interchangeably with the word corpse, but cadaver is especially used in a scientific context to refer to a body that is the subject of scientific study or medical use, such as one that will be dissected.It’s sometimes used as a modifier (adjective) in phrases that involve cadavers. For example, cadaver tissue is tissue that has been harvested from a donor body. A cadaver dog is a dog that has been specially trained to track the scent of dead bodies in searches for missing persons.Example: The cadavers are carefully preserved before they are prepared for dissection.