tomb

American  

[toom] / tum /

noun

tombs plural

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

Derived Forms

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

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• tombs
  plural

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.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

tomb tombs

A genetic study of 132 people buried in a large megalithic tomb near Bury, about 50 kilometers north of Paris, has uncovered evidence of a dramatic population collapse and replacement during the Stone Age.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 8, 2026

The rescuers guided Gil out of his would-be tomb, onto a gurney and outside into the crush of onlookers waiting below the tropical sun, already blazing before 10 a.m.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 5, 2026

Since then, his stunningly well-preserved remains have been kept at the same temperature -- minus six degrees Celsius -- as his icy tomb.

From Barron's ● Jun. 3, 2026

The state media broadcast featured the 42-year-old dictator paying homage to the deceased, scattering dirt over one tomb and laying a white rose on another.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 15, 2026

Without a fire in the hearth, the massive, wood-paneled room was as cold as a tomb.

From "Ophie's Ghosts" by Justina Ireland

Mama Margaretha and her atas and their children live together in several traditional houses, which look like tall witches' hats, ranged around her family's tombs.

From Barron's ● Jul. 21, 2026

Beginning in 2022, she surveyed rock cut tombs dating from the Lydian through Roman periods around Sardis.

From Science Daily ● Jun. 25, 2026

We visited on a sunny day, and the wind blew hard as we traced Mina and Lucy’s steps through the tombs and along the path past the Abbey toward Robin Hood’s Bay.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 14, 2026

There is little doubt that a crumbling Egyptian economy circa 1,100 B.C. prompted the country’s early leadership to loot the tombs.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 17, 2026

The tombs of the pharaohs and of Alexander the Great himself served as constant reminders of the heights she could hope to achieve.

From "Sterling Biographies®: Cleopatra: Egypt's Last and Greatest Queen" by Susan Blackaby

Related Words

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