corpse Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun the dead body of a human being
    remains; clay; stiff; cadaver.
    • the cadaver was intended for dissection
    • the end of the police search was the discovery of a corpse
    • the murderer confessed that he threw the stiff in the river
    • honor comes to bless the turf that wraps their clay

WordNet

Corpse noun
Etymology
OF. cors (sometimes written corps), F. corps, L. corpus; akin to AS. hrif womb. See Midriff, and cf. Corse, Corselet, Corps, Cuerpo.
Definitions
  1. A human body in general, whether living or dead; -- sometimes contemptuosly. Obs. ✍ Formerly written (after the French form) corps. See Corps, n., 1.
  2. The dead body of a human being; -- used also Fig.
    He touched the dead corpse of Public Credit, and it sprung upon its feet. D. Webster.

Webster 1913