exhume

[ ig-zoom, -zyoom, eks-hyoom ]

/ ɪgˈzum, -ˈzyum, ɛksˈhyum /

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See synonyms for exhume on Thesaurus.com

verb (used with object), ex·humed, ex·hum·ing.

to dig (something buried, especially a dead body) out of the earth; disinter.

to revive or restore after neglect or a period of forgetting; bring to light: to exhume a literary reputation; to exhume old letters.

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Origin of exhume

1400–50; late Middle English <Medieval Latin exhumāre, equivalent to Latin ex-ex-¹ + humāre to inter

OTHER WORDS FROM exhume

ex·hu·ma·tion

[eks-hyoo-mey-shuhn], /ˌɛks hyʊˈmeɪ ʃən/, nounex·hum·er, nounun·ex·humed, adjective

Words nearby exhume

exhilaration, exhilarative, exhort, exhortation, exhortative, exhume, ex hypothesi, exigeant, exigency, exigent, exigible

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2022

How to use exhume in a sentence

Experts from the Harvard laboratory of geneticist David Reich extracted DNA from the bones of 29 people exhumed from the cemetery more than 40 years ago for a road project and identified five, maybe six, family groups.
Faces of the dead emerge from lost African American graveyard|Michael Ruane|July 9, 2021|Washington Post
Denmark is now in the process of exhuming and burning those carcasses.
The Next Pandemic: How Ready Are You?|Sean Culligan|June 15, 2021|Ozy
Once a committee gets legal authorization to exhume the remains, they’ll be DNA-tested.
Why it took 100 years for America to learn about the Tulsa massacre|Fabiola Cineas|May 30, 2021|Vox
As of Friday, two dozen bodies had been exhumed but police believe there could be 40 or more.
Eight Pits Full of Murdered Women Found in Ex Cop’s Backyard in El Salvador|Barbie Latza Nadeau|May 21, 2021|The Daily Beast

A team of scientists is set to exhume the former Palestinian leader's body on Tuesday in order to find out.
Bringing Up Yasir Arafat’s Body|Tracy McNicoll|November 24, 2012|DAILY BEAST
Exhume , to dig out of the ground, or in the case of a fossil, to take out of its place of burial in the rock.
Unexplored!|Allen Chaffee
When a tribe quits one place to reside at another, they exhume the bones of their relations, and take them with them.
Borneo and the Indian Archipelago|Frank S. Marryat
At last he shut the book, and, laying it down, proceeded to exhume a morning coat.
Six Months at the Cape|R.M. Ballantyne
Deprived of the requisite authority, it was unable to do more than exhume the old laws on the matter and ordain new ones.
On the cattle plague: or, Contagious typhus in horned cattle. Its history, origin, description, and treatment|Honor Bourguignon
It is from among its ruins that the wondering fellah and explorer of to-day exhume the gorgeous relics of its past.
Patriarchal Palestine|Archibald Henry Sayce

British Dictionary definitions for exhume

exhume

/ (ɛksˈhjuːm) /

verb (tr)

to dig up (something buried, esp a corpse); disinter

to reveal; disclose; unearthdon't exhume that old argument

Derived forms of exhume

exhumation (ˌɛkshjʊˈmeɪʃən), nounexhumer, noun

Word Origin for exhume

C18: from Medieval Latin exhumāre, from Latin ex- 1 + humāre to bury, from humus the ground

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

exhume

Origin of exhume

OTHER WORDS FROM exhume

Words nearby exhume

Words related to exhume

How to use exhume in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for exhume

Derived forms of exhume

Word Origin for exhume