tomb

American  

[toom] / tum /

noun

1. an excavation in earth or rock for the burial of a corpse; grave.

2. a mausoleum, burial chamber, or the like.

3. a monument for housing or commemorating a dead person.

4. any sepulchral structure.

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verb (used with object)

1. to place in or as if in a tomb; entomb; bury.

tomb British  

/ tuːm /

noun

1. a place, esp a vault beneath the ground, for the burial of a corpse

2. a stone or other monument to the dead

3. a poetic term for death

4. anything serving as a burial place

   the sea was his tomb

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verb

1. rare (tr) to place in a tomb; entomb

Other Word Forms

• tombal adjective
• tombless adjective
• tomblike adjective
• untombed adjective

Etymology

Origin of tomb

1225–75; Middle English tumbe < Anglo-French; Old French tombe < Late Latin tumba < Greek týmbos burial mound; akin to Latin tumēre to swell. See tumor, tumulus

Example Sentences

There has been a place of worship on the site since at least the 14th Century, and today's Georgian building includes the tomb of an archbishop of Canterbury from the reign of the Stuarts.

From BBC

Those items came from a typical tomb in Sedment, Egypt, south of Cairo, believed to belong to a merchant family.

From Science Daily

Also in Windsor, President Steinmeier will lay flowers at the tomb of the late Queen Elizabeth II in St George's Chapel.

From BBC

Sereno emphasizes that these dinosaur mummies are very different from human-created mummies in Egyptian tombs; none of the original organic material is still present.

From Science Daily

He is an important figure to young Catholics, many of whom flock to his tomb in Assisi, Italy.

From The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• burial
• coffin
• mausoleum
• monument
• pit
• vault