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Definitions

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

  1. n. The dead body of an animal, especially one slaughtered for food.
  2. n. The body of a human.
  3. n. Remains from which the substance or character is gone: the carcass of a once glorious empire.
  4. n. A framework or basic structure: the carcass of a burned-out building.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

  1. n. The dead body of an animal; a corpse: not now commonly applied to a dead human body, except in contempt.
  2. n. The body of a living animal, especially of a large animal; in contempt, the human body.
  3. n. Figuratively, the decaying remains of a bulky thing, as of a boat or ship.
  4. n. The frame or main parts of a thing unfinished, or without ornament, as the timberwork of a house before it is lathed or plastered or the floors are laid, or the keel, ribs, etc., of a ship.
  5. n. An iron case, shell, or hollow vessel filled with combustible and other substances, as gunpowder, saltpeter, sulphur, broken glass, turpentine, etc., thrown from a mortar or howitzer, and intended to set fire to a building, ship, or wooden defense. It has two or three apertures, from which the tire mazes, and is sometimes made to serve by its light as a guide in throwing shells. It is sometimes equipped with pistol-barrels loaded with powder to the muzzle, which explode as the composition burns down to them.
  6. To erect or set up the carcass or framework of a building or a ship.

Wiktionary

  1. n. The body of a dead animal
  2. n. The body of a dead human
  3. n. The framework of a structure, especially one not normally seen
  4. n. an early incendiary ship-to-ship projectile consisting of an iron shell filled with saltpetre, sulphur, resin, turpentine, antimony and tallow with vents for flame

GNU Webster's 1913

  1. n. A dead body, whether of man or beast; a corpse; now commonly the dead body of a beast.
  2. n. The living body; -- now commonly used in contempt or ridicule.
  3. n. The abandoned and decaying remains of some bulky and once comely thing, as a ship; the skeleton, or the uncovered or unfinished frame, of a thing.
  4. n. A hollow case or shell, filled with combustibles, to be thrown from a mortar or howitzer, to set fire to buldings, ships, etc.

WordNet 3.0

  1. n. the dead body of an animal especially one slaughtered and dressed for food

Etymologies

  1. Middle English carcas, from Anglo-Norman carcais and Medieval Latin carcasium.

Examples

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Comments

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  • fbharjo Etymology: Middle French carcasse, alteration of Old French carcois, perhaps from carquois, carquais quiver, alteration of tarquais, from Medieval Latin tarcasius, from Arabic tarkash, from Persian tirkash, from tir arrow (from Old Persian tigra pointed) + -kash bearing (from kashdan to pull, draw, from Avestan karsh- Aug 30, 2009

  • madmouth carcase is an older spelling Jun 12, 2009

‘carcass’ has been looked up 1211 times, loved by 1 person, added to 18 lists, commented on 2 times, and has a Scrabble score of 11.