pallbearer
Americannoun
-
pallbearers
plural
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of pallbearer
Explanation
The sad job of a pallbearer is to help carry the casket at a funeral service or burial. In Western cultures, pallbearers are usually family members or close friends of the person who has died. Traditionally, pallbearers were men, all of whom wore white gloves as a sign of respect for the deceased person. These days, anyone can be a pallbearer. In some Eastern traditions, pallbearers are never members of the family, but instead are paid helpers. The word pallbearer comes from pall, "cloth spread over a coffin," and bearer, or "carrier."
Vocabulary lists containing pallbearer
Fences
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One of Us Is Lying
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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:
After Kennedy’s assassination, Whittaker was a pallbearer at the funeral in St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 15, 2026
After giving a statement to the deputies that morning, Pope arrived at his sister’s funeral, where he was supposed to be a pallbearer, just as everyone was leaving.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 6, 2025
She also discussed Darcey's role as a pallbearer at the service, saying: "She insisted on doing it and I thought it was a beautiful thing."
From BBC ● Feb. 5, 2024
Kara-Murza holds both British and Russian citizenship and was a pallbearer at the funeral of U.S.
From Reuters ● Apr. 6, 2023
A pallbearer walked over to the funeral man.
From "Maniac Magee" by Jerry Spinelli
Just under two years later and both Ewie and Frans would be pallbearers at Hansie's funeral following his shock death in a plane crash.
From BBC ● Jul. 30, 2025
The band kept playing as the pallbearers trudged onward.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 28, 2025
It was lifted by pallbearers and carried into the church.
From New York Times ● Nov. 20, 2024
Alatorre’s honorary pallbearers draped a United Farm Workers flag over his coffin, and Mariachi Los Rams led the procession out of the cathedral, singing “De Colores.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 9, 2024
He died in his third year in high school and I was one of his pallbearers, and I think I was guilty of the sin of pride at being chosen.
From "Travels with Charley in Search of America" by John Steinbeck
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.
