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coroner

American  
[kawr-uh-ner, kor-] / ˈkɔr ə nər, ˈkɒr- /

noun

  • coroners
    plural
  1. an officer, as of a county or municipality, whose chief function is to investigate by inquest, as before a jury, any death not clearly resulting from natural causes.


coroner British  
/ ˈkɒrənə /

noun

  1. a public official responsible for the investigation of violent, sudden, or suspicious deaths and inquiries into treasure trove. The investigation ( coroner's inquest ) is held in the presence of a jury ( coroner's jury ) See also procurator fiscal Compare medical examiner

"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

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

Inflected Forms

Nouns

Etymology

Origin of coroner

1225–75; Middle English < Anglo-French corouner supervisor of the Crown's pleas, equivalent to coroune crown + -er -er 2

Explanation

A coroner is a scientist with a grim specialty: a coroner studies dead bodies and figures out the cause of death. If you've ever watched a TV show or movie about crime, chances are you've seen a character who was a coroner. If someone dies of a heart attack, there's not much need for a coroner, because everyone knows how they died. When the circumstances are unclear or suspicious, a coroner is needed. Coroners are very helpful in solving crimes.

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Vocabulary lists containing coroner

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.

See Examples For:

A pen portrait from Germeney's mother, read out at the beginning of the inquest by the coroner, said Germeney and the children were "our complete world" and "were beautiful, funny, extremely kind, loving and caring".

From BBC ● Oct. 8, 2026

"We can't comment on the cause of the injury to the defence personnel but we are assisting and were helping to investigate on behalf of the coroner," Dole said, according to the ABC.

From BBC ● Oct. 6, 2026

Area coroner Michelle Brown ruled their deaths were the result of misadventure and said: "This was an intentional trip with unintended consequences."

From BBC ● Oct. 2, 2026

He died in hospital on 13 March, with coroner Dr Richard Brittain recording his cause of death as multi-organ failure.

From BBC ● Oct. 2, 2026

James Tabb, the boat-builder, was standing up now and the coroner was asking him a question.

From "Rebecca" by Daphne du Maurier

The state health department said that under law, it doesn’t have to report deaths to coroners.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 4, 2026

She wants coroners to step in robustly if proceedings get too acrimonious.

From BBC ● Aug. 24, 2026

The cases were submitted by coroners, forensic pathologists, and police forces between March 2019 and August 2024.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 15, 2026

For the final analysis, researchers used only cases for which coroners had approved the use of the data.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 15, 2026

He's an ambitious young fellow, named Haynes, and is cleverer than the run of coroners.

From That Affair at Elizabeth by Burton Egbert Stevenson

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