embalm
Americanverb (used with object)
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to treat (a dead body) so as to preserve it, as with chemicals, drugs, or balsams.
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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
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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
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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
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
Families were no longer required to embalm their loved ones — a service that can cost anywhere from $500 to $1,000.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 30, 2022
Mr. Carriaga addressed him sternly: “Did you embalm Josh Billings?”
From "Cannery Row" by John Steinbeck
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
Lukashenko visited the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun -- where Kim's embalmed father and grandfather lie in state -- to pay his respects, flanked by top North Korean officials, the report said.
From Barron's ● Mar. 25, 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
Animals from foreign lands, preserved in formaldehyde or embalmed and stuffed with sawdust.
From "The City Beautiful" by Aden Polydoros
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
They grouped the compounds into four main categories connected to specific embalming ingredients.
From Science Daily ● Mar. 16, 2026
Eventually, the discovery of formaldehyde and the use of embalming fluids reduced the demand for cadavers, as did the growing number of people donating their bodies to science.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 5, 2026
The dark dramedy “Six Feet Under” also revolved around a dysfunctional family generations in the embalming business.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 1, 2025
Before the days of modern embalming, incense had a practical application.
From "Middlesex: A Novel" by Jeffrey Eugenides
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.
