gravedigger

American  

[greyv-dig-er] / ˈgreɪvˌdɪg ər /

noun

gravediggers plural

1. a person whose occupation is digging graves.

2. burying beetle.

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• gravediggers
  plural

Etymology

Origin of gravedigger

First recorded in 1585–95; grave ¹ + digger

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

gravedigger gravediggers

Local gravedigger Toby Howat, 25, is working with Goldsworthy.

From BBC ● Feb. 6, 2026

The banter between Hamlet and the gravedigger allows for the kind of witty wordplay that is Izzard’s stand-up stock-in-trade.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 25, 2026

At noon on Sunday, Amotz Bazar, the kibbutz gravedigger, pulled up the driveway to the cemetery in Nir Oz.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 12, 2025

Kuznetsov never imagined he would be a gravedigger.

From Seattle Times ● Apr. 25, 2023

The bearded gravedigger, dressed in a filthy plaid shirt, turns to me and then back to my mother’s plot.

From "They Both Die at the End" by Adam Silvera

In a secluded area of La Esperanza cemetery in La Guaira, gravediggers buried more than 150 bodies still unidentified since the earthquakes, AFP journalists saw.

From Barron's ● Jul. 5, 2026

Deputy Mayor of Freetown Kweku Lisk told the BBC that his office had requested security from the police in order to tackle gravediggers.

From BBC ● Apr. 5, 2024

Berger, who lost 20 kilograms to see the chamber himself, believes the stones show ancient gravediggers excavated the pit, digging up dirt and stones, setting them aside, and then using them to cover the body.

From Science Magazine ● Jun. 4, 2023

One of the gravediggers took pride in pointing out to visiting journalists that the caskets were placed not on the ground but on individual stands “in a dignified manner.”

From New York Times ● Feb. 15, 2023

I said good-bye to the widow’s unmarked stone, where she was buried after she died, and where I stayed until the gravediggers found me and carried me to the temple.

From "The Many Assassinations of Samir, the Seller of Dreams" by Daniel Nayeri