morgue

American  

[mawrg] / mɔrg /

noun

• morgues
  plural

1. a place in which bodies are kept, especially the bodies of victims of violence or accidents, pending identification or burial.

2. a reference file of old clippings, mats, books, etc., in a newspaper office.

3. the room containing such a reference file.

4. any place, as a room or file, where records, information, or objects are kept for unexpected but possible future use.

5. such records, information, or objects.

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morgue ¹ British  

/ mɔːɡ /

noun

1. another word for mortuary

2. informal a room or file containing clippings, files, etc, used for reference in a newspaper

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morgue ² British  

/ mɔrɡ /

noun

1. superiority; haughtiness

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• morgues
  plural

Etymology

Origin of morgue

1815–25; < French; name of building in Paris housing unidentified dead bodies

Explanation

Most hospitals have an area called a morgue, where dead bodies are stored until they are buried or cremated. After a person dies, that person's body is often placed in a morgue until it can be transported to a funeral home, church, or temple for a memorial service or funeral. Occasionally, a body needs to be identified by relatives, and that often happens in a morgue as well. Another word for morgue is mortuary. The word comes from the French La Morgue, which was one specific building in 1800s Paris. It replaced the much more blunt term "dead house."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

morgue morgues

Vaccines, masking, improved indoor air quality and acquired immunity have all kept the virus at bay so that morgue trucks no longer fill the streets.

From Salon ● Aug. 6, 2026

She fears having to return to the morgue in the coming days to repeat the process all over again.

From BBC ● Jul. 3, 2026

A makeshift morgue is operating outdoors in the port of La Guaira, where long lines form to receive the bodies of loved ones and the death certificates.

From Barron's ● Jul. 3, 2026

“My daughter wasn’t taken to the morgue, she was transported to the hospital parking lot,” Villalonga said.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 30, 2026

Many people came to the morgue to search for missing relatives and friends.

From "The Great Fire" by Jim Murphy

Others were frantically searching by hand for missing loved ones in the rubble, but also in hospitals and morgues.

From Barron's ● Jul. 1, 2026

Her anguish is shared outside morgues as well as in hospitals, where photos of missing persons are plastered on walls and utility poles, written on handwritten pieces of paper.

From Barron's ● Jun. 30, 2026

People reached by the Journal reported seeing masses of bodies in morgues and cemeteries and believed the death toll to be higher than what’s been acknowledged by authorities.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 15, 2026

She is an expert on the dark histories of 19th Century morgues, but also photographs restaurant pizzas and plates of delicately arranged veg for magazines and food promotions.

From BBC ● Oct. 10, 2025

It was hoarse, guttural, chattering, and it seemed to issue from the sheds, which I had fancied to be morgues.

From First Person Paramount by Ambrose Pratt

Related Words

• funeral home