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

"May our Christian sisters and brothers know and celebrate the hope of the empty tomb - and may all people of the region receive the peace, justice and freedom they long for."

From BBC • Apr. 4, 2026

Mary Ann Pajo watched quietly as cemetery workers opened her son's tomb in Manila this week and removed his body for examination by a forensic pathologist.

From Barron's • Feb. 20, 2026

The earl of Arundel’s tomb expresses the grim realities beneath the era’s facade of chivalry: Above, he is depicted resplendent in full armor; below, as a gaunt cadaver.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 11, 2026

"And they had to tell me," she said, staring at the cement tomb where mourners had spelled out Saul's name in yellow, blue, and white flower petals.

From Barron's • Jan. 19, 2026

The library was like a tomb, illumined from within by a chill fluorescent light that, by contrast, made the afternoon seem colder and grayer than it was.

From "The Secret History" by Donna Tartt

Related Words

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