embalm
Americanverb (used with object)
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embalms,
present (3rd person singular)
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embalmed,
past participle, past
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embalming
present participle
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to treat (a dead body) so as to preserve it, as with chemicals, drugs, or balsams.
-
to preserve from oblivion; keep in memory.
his deeds embalmed in the hearts of his disciples.
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to cause to remain unchanged; prevent the development of.
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to impart a balmy fragrance to.
verb
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to treat (a dead body) with preservatives, as by injecting formaldehyde into the blood vessels, to retard putrefaction
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to preserve or cherish the memory of
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poetic to give a sweet fragrance to
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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embalmsimple
-
embalmssimple
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have embalmedperfect
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has embalmedperfect
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am embalmingprogressive
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are embalmingprogressive
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is embalmingprogressive
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have been embalmingperfect progressive
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has been embalmingperfect progressive
Past
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embalmedsimple
-
had embalmedperfect
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was embalmingprogressive
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were embalmingprogressive
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had been embalmingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of embalm
1300–50; Middle English embalmen, embaumen < Old French emba ( u ) smer, equivalent to em- em- 1 + -ba ( u ) smer, verbal derivative of ba ( u ) sme balm
Explanation
To embalm is to prepare a body for a funeral or burial. Part of a funeral director's job is to embalm the bodies of people who have died. Various traditions of death and burial require a dead body to be preserved with chemicals, and when someone does this, she's said to embalm the body. Occasionally, there are also medical research or educational reasons to embalm a body. Embalm has an Old French root, embaumer, "preserve a corpse with spices."
Vocabulary lists containing embalm
Ancient Egypt - Introductory
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The Things They Carried
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Ancient Egypt - Middle School and High School
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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:
It can also be dangerous to embalm traditions, Burke believed, noting that “a state without the means of some change is without the means of its conservation.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 2, 2026
Before the 90-day waiting period is over, mortuaries are not allowed to embalm or cremate people without authorization from their next of kin, so the cooler is the only way to keep remains preserved.
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 12, 2024
She and her colleagues also embalm about 65% of the bodies, preserving them for longer and slowing down decomposition.
From BBC ● Nov. 8, 2023
In 2020, a woman in Michigan with cerebral palsy was declared dead by paramedics but was discovered to be breathing hours later by a funeral home worker who was preparing to embalm her body.
From New York Times ● Feb. 5, 2023
It caused Claudia to want to embalm Jamie in a vat of mummy fluid right that minute.
From "From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler" by E.L. Konigsburg
But currently in the mortuary, Ms Walton embalms about three to four bodies a day.
From BBC ● Nov. 8, 2023
Zahn, owner of the Tillman Funeral Home & Crematory, embalms and buries people for a living.
From BusinessWeek ● Oct. 24, 2013
Among them is Paccione Funeral Directors in Staten Island, which embalms up to 140 bodies a month.
From New York Times ● Jul. 20, 2011
The average funeral home embalms about 150 bodies a year, suggesting that many embalmers are not exposed to formaldehyde throughout the day.
From New York Times ● Jul. 20, 2011
The nominalization rule takes a perfectly spry verb and embalms it into a lifeless noun by adding a suffix like -ance, -ment, -ation, or -ing.
From "The Sense of Style" by Steven Pinker
And Stalin himself, whose body was initially interred in the same mausoleum that housed the embalmed Vladimir Lenin, was subjected to criticism for some of his evil deeds.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 10, 2026
A local undertaker said the embalmed remains of the Iranian sailors were being sent back in sealed boxes.
From Barron's ● Mar. 13, 2026
A pilgrimage to the oldest concrete road in America detours to meeting a descendant of the undertaker who embalmed Chef Boyardee.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 21, 2026
In 2012, the team said it received “problematic” documents from coroners detailing how one infant wasn’t autopsied until after its body was embalmed and how another’s death certificate didn’t match what the autopsy found.
From Salon ● Dec. 3, 2024
Dressed by the nereids and embalmed with honey, honey and unguent in the seething blaze, you turned to ash.
From "The Odyssey" by Homer
The findings provide a more detailed understanding of known embalming mixtures and offer deeper insight into how these preservation techniques developed over time.
From Science Daily ● Mar. 16, 2026
Across all samples, scientists identified 81 distinct VOCs that offer clues about the materials used during the embalming process and the time periods in which the mummies were prepared.
From Science Daily ● Mar. 16, 2026
Funeral homes charge for embalming, caskets, vaults and funeral services.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 3, 2026
She also described the harrowing process of embalming the prime minister's body, which would lie in state in the capital for two days before cremation.
From BBC ● Jun. 28, 2025
And in the basement is a sink and instruments for embalming and for injecting.
From "Cannery Row" by John Steinbeck
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
