tomb
Americannoun
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an excavation in earth or rock for the burial of a corpse; grave.
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a mausoleum, burial chamber, or the like.
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a monument for housing or commemorating a dead person.
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any sepulchral structure.
verb (used with object)
noun
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a place, esp a vault beneath the ground, for the burial of a corpse
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a stone or other monument to the dead
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a poetic term for death
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anything serving as a burial place
the sea was his tomb
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
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
Explanation
A tomb is a place where a dead person is buried. Usually, a tomb is under a tombstone, which says the name of the person who died and when they lived. We're all going to die, and that means we're all going to end up in some type of tomb: a place where a corpse is buried. Over time, there have been many types of tombs, including the huge, ornate, elaborate tombs of the Egyptians. Other tombs are simpler, involving the simple burial of a box or the cremated remains.
Vocabulary lists containing tomb
Ancient Egypt - Introductory
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"The Pedestrian" by Ray Bradbury
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Words Whose Pronunciation Has Changed Over Time
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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.
Then they paid their respects at Arlington National Cemetery, where they laid a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Warrior and a gun salute was fired.
From BBC • Apr. 30, 2026
Filming on the new Tomb Raider series has been paused after actress Sophie Turner sustained an injury, the show's bosses have confirmed.
From BBC • Mar. 30, 2026
President Donald Trump marked Veterans Day with a high-profile ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery, laying a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier alongside Vice President J. D.
From Salon • Nov. 11, 2025
Every hour on the hour, day and night, Greek soldiers change the guard in front of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Athens.
From Barron's • Oct. 23, 2025
They visited Grant’s Tomb, tried to board the Queen Mary but were turned away, inspected Columbia’s campus, toured Rockefeller Center, walked up and down Broadway, and ate at Jack Dempsey’s.
From "The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics" by Daniel James Brown
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.
