body

noun

1)

the human body

Syn:

figure, frame, form, physique, anatomy, skeleton; soma; informal bod

2)

he was hit by shrapnel in the head and body

Syn:

torso, trunk

3)

the body was exhumed

Syn:

corpse, carcass, skeleton, remains; informal stiff; Medicine cadaver

4)

the body of the essay

Syn:

main part, central part, core, heart

5)

a body of water

Syn:

expanse, mass, area, stretch, tract, sweep, extent

6)

a growing body of evidence

Syn:

quantity, amount, volume, collection, mass, corpus

7)

the representative body of the employers

Syn:

association, organization, group, party, company, society, circle, syndicate, guild, corporation, contingent

8)

add body to your hair

Syn:

fullness, thickness, substance, bounce, lift, shape

•

- body and soul

••

body, cadaver, carcass, corpse, cremains, remains

The problem of what to call the human body after it has departed this life is a delicate one. Although a body can be either dead or alive, human or animal, a corpse is most definitely a dead human body and a carcass is the body of a dead animal. The issue has been confused, of course, by the figurative use of carcass as a term of contempt ("Get your carcass out of bed and come down here!"). While carcass is often used humorously, there's nothing funny about corpse, a no-nonsense term for a lifeless physical body (the battlefield was littered with corpses). A funeral director is likely to prefer the term remains, which is a euphemism for the body of the deceased (he had his wife's remains shipped home for burial), or cremains, if the body has been cremated. A medical student, on the other hand, is much more likely to use the term cadaver, which is a corpse that is dissected in a laboratory for scientific study.