hearse

American  

[hurs] / hɜrs /

noun

1. a vehicle for conveying a dead person to the place of burial.

2. a triangular frame for holding candles, used at the service of Tenebrae in Holy Week.

3. a canopy erected over a tomb.

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hearse British  

/ hɜːs /

noun

1. a vehicle, such as a specially designed car or carriage, used to carry a coffin to a place of worship and ultimately to a cemetery or crematorium

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Other Word Forms

• hearselike adjective

Etymology

Origin of hearse

1250–1300; Middle English herse < Middle French herce a harrow < Latin hirpicem, accusative of hirpex

Example Sentences

In my neighborhood, the only time you ever saw a limousine was behind a hearse at a funeral.

From The Wall Street Journal

A police photographer was called in, and a hearse was later seen leaving the scene.

From Barron's

At a different point we can see a body bag at the back of a hearse and a man nearby is heard telling a female official that it is his sister.

From BBC

Paramedics and police officers stood at attention as the hearse passed.

From Barron's

As their coffins rested in the hearse, we began to sing “Am Yisrael Chai,” the anthem of the Soviet Jewry movement.

From The Wall Street Journal