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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The Fault in Our Stars
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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
Whittaker caught a flight to L.A. and was at the senator’s hospital bedside when he died and then served as a pallbearer at the funeral.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 8, 2026
Kara-Murza had been a friend of Sen. John McCain and was a pallbearer at his 2018 funeral.
From Seattle Times ● Apr. 17, 2023
Kara-Murza holds both British and Russian citizenship and was a pallbearer at the funeral of U.S.
From Reuters ● Apr. 6, 2023
He was to be a pallbearer at the funeral.
From "The Heart is a Lonely Hunter" by Carson McCullers
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
A grieving O’Connor wept on the steps of the Supreme Court as pallbearers carried Rehnquist’s body to lie in state in the Great Hall of the court.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 1, 2023
Now the preacher had finished, and someone signaled the bandmaster and there was solemn music as the pallbearers carried the coffin down the spiraling stairs.
From "Invisible Man" by Ralph Ellison
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.
