- present tense form of remain (3rd person singular).
remains
Britishplural noun
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any pieces, scraps, fragments, etc, that are left unused or still extant, as after use, consumption, the passage of time, etc
the remains of a meal
archaeological remains
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the body of a dead person; corpse
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Also called: literary remains. the unpublished writings of an author at the time of his or her death
Explanation
The word remains can mean a dead body, so a detective might investigate to find out if some bones found in a lake are human or non-human remains. You can also use remains to mean the part of something that's left behind after the rest has been used or thrown away. So the remains of your birthday cake might just be some crumbs and melted candles, and the remains of a building after an earthquake could consist of a crumbling foundation. In a murder mystery, though, remains are likely to be human bodies.
Vocabulary lists containing remains
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.
Inside the cab or the tractor, there remains a steering wheel and seats.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 17, 2026
The LaGuardia crash remains under investigation and it isn’t clear what, if any, role air-traffic staffing may have played in the accident.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 16, 2026
The punishment he absorbed has raised questions over whether his decision to take an immediate rematch has come too soon but Wardley remains confident he can reverse the result.
From BBC ● Oct. 16, 2026
The remains were one of several found that summer at Lake Mead, where water levels have been declining for decades, but his identity remained a mystery.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 16, 2026
Today, more than a hundred military cemeteries around Arras hold the remains of Allied soldiers killed in action there.
From "The War to End All Wars: World War I" by Russell Freedman
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
