rigor mortis

American  

[rig-er mawr-tis, rahy-gawr] / ˈrɪg ər ˈmɔr tɪs, ˈraɪ gɔr /

noun

1. the stiffening of the body after death.

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rigor mortis British  

/ ˈrɪɡə ˈmɔːtɪs /

noun

1. pathol the stiffness of joints and muscular rigidity of a dead body, caused by depletion of ATP in the tissues. It begins two to four hours after death and lasts up to about four days, after which the muscles and joints relax

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rigor mortis Scientific  

/ rĭg′ərmôr′tĭs /

1. Muscular stiffening following death, resulting from the unavailability of energy needed to interrupt contraction of the muscle fibers.

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rigor mortis Cultural  

1. Stiffening of the muscles of the body that occurs after death. Rigor mortis is Latin for “stiffness of death.”

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Figuratively, rigor mortis refers to an absence of flexibility or vitality: “By the time the school finally closed, rigor mortis had set in in nearly every department.”

Etymology

Origin of rigor mortis

1830–40; < Latin: literally, stiffness of death

Example Sentences

The inquest was told rigor mortis - the stiffening of the body after death - had set in.

From BBC • Mar. 20, 2026

The breath stops, the heart stops, the brain stops and rigor mortis soon appears.

From Salon • Jul. 14, 2023

“This implies they were put there before rigor mortis set in or after it had passed.”

From New York Times • May 16, 2023

Amid the war dead lies a horse on its back, presumably in a state of rigor mortis but better resembling a house pet in need of a belly rub.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 20, 2023

“How do you feel, hand?” he asked the cramped hand that was almost as stiff as rigor mortis.

From "The Old Man and The Sea" by Ernest Hemingway