morgue
Americannoun
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a place in which bodies are kept, especially the bodies of victims of violence or accidents, pending identification or burial.
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a reference file of old clippings, mats, books, etc., in a newspaper office.
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the room containing such a reference file.
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any place, as a room or file, where records, information, or objects are kept for unexpected but possible future use.
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such records, information, or objects.
noun
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another word for mortuary
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informal a room or file containing clippings, files, etc, used for reference in a newspaper
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
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."
Vocabulary lists containing morgue
Al Capone Does My Shirts
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While the World Watched
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English Words Derived from French, List 6
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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.
Modesta does not enter the makeshift morgue and waits outside while other relatives handle the identification process.
From BBC • 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
The pungent smell of death emanates from the Caracas morgue, an odour that thousands of liters of donated chlorine cannot mask.
From Barron's • Jun. 30, 2026
A medical worker carrying a stretcher told AFP that the hospital morgue was full.
From Barron's • Jun. 25, 2026
By that point Nfvea was worn out from weeping, but when she learned that they were thinking of taking her daughter to the morgue, she quickly regained her strength.
From "The House of the Spirits: A Novel" by Isabel Allende
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.
