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
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.
At the morgue, the babies were brought in with their diapers and blankets and with their hospital ID bracelets still wrapped around their tiny ankles.
From Salon • May 7, 2026
Mourners gathered around the bodies as they were taken from the morgue towards the hospital courtyard, where men lined up in silence to perform an Islamic funeral prayer recited for the dead.
From Barron's • Jan. 22, 2026
"Several families, fearing that the authorities might keep the bodies or bury them without their knowledge, broke open the morgue door and pulled the bodies out of ambulances," the source told the BBC.
From BBC • Jan. 15, 2026
“We went to the morgue and there he was,” Irma said.
From Slate • Jan. 15, 2026
A few days before, Henry’s mother had stopped in to see me, after she’d been down the hall to see her own son in the morgue.
From "The Secret History" by Donna Tartt
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.
