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definitions

lich gate

or lych gate

|

noun

a roofed gate to a churchyard under which a bier is set down during a burial service to await the coming of the clergyman.

Origin of lich gate

First recorded in 1475–85
Also called resurrection gate.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for lich gate

Historical Examples of lich gate

  • Leonard ran a few steps, then walked to the lich-gate, where he waited.

    The Man

    Bram Stoker

  • The German leichengang has precisely the same meaning as our Lich-Gate.

  • In other parts of the country are examples of chambers over the lich-gate.

    Old Church Lore

    William Andrews

  • At the entrance to the graveyard is the lich-gate and mortuary, where many wrecked seamen were taken for burial.

    The Cornwall Coast

    Arthur L. Salmon

  • Carrados dropped the near window as a man in glistening waterproof stepped from the shelter of a lich-gate and approached.

    Max Carrados

    Ernest Bramah

British Dictionary definitions for lich gate

lich gate

noun

a variant spelling of lych gate
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