body

1. Physical frame.
   1. The physical structure of a human or animal seen as one single organism. [from 9th c.]

      I saw them walking from a distance, their bodies strangely angular in the dawn light.

   2. The fleshly or corporeal nature of a human, as opposed to the spirit or soul. [from 13th c.]

      The body is driven by desires, but the soul is at peace.

   3. A corpse. [from 13th c.]

      Her body was found at four o'clock, just two hours after the murder.

   4. (archaic or informal except in compounds) A person. [from 13th c.]
      • 1749, Henry Fielding, Tom Jones, Folio Society 1973, page 463:

        Indeed, if it belonged to a poor body, it would be another thing; but so great a lady, to be sure, can never want it […]

      • 1876, Mark Twain, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Chapter 28:

        Sometime I've set right down and eat WITH him. But you needn't tell that. A body's got to do things when he's awful hungry he wouldn't want to do as a steady thing.

      • 1913, Joseph C. Lincoln, chapter 5, in Mr. Pratt's Patients:

        “Well,” I says, “I cal'late a body could get used to Tophet if he stayed there long enough.” ¶ She flared up; the least mite of a slam at Doctor Wool was enough to set her going.

      What's a body gotta do to get a drink around here?

   5. (sociology) A human being, regarded as marginalized or oppressed.
      • 1999, Devon Carbado, Black Men on Race, Gender, and Sexuality: A Critical Reader (page 87)

        This, of course, was not about the State, but it was certainly an invasion: black bodies acting out in a public domain circumscribed by a racist culture. The Garvey movement presents an example of black bodies transgressing racialized spatial boundaries.

      • 2012, Trystan T. Cotten, Transgender Migrations (page 3)

        In doing so, Haritaworn also rethinks the marginality of transgender bodies and practices in queer movements and spaces.

      • 2016, Laura Harrison, Brown Bodies, White Babies (page 5)

        As the title suggests, this project is particularly interested in how race intersects with reproductive technologies—how brown bodies are deployed in the creation of white babies.

   • Physical definition

     Of medicine.

     1. Pertaining to the field of medicine; medical.
     2. That practises medicine; pertaining to doctors, physicianly.
     3. Medicinal; good for the health, curative, therapeutic.

     (1 of 12 physical definitions)

   • Organism definition

     A discrete and complete living thing, such as animal, plant, fungus or microorganism. (1 of 2 organism definitions)

   • Fleshly definition

     Of or relating to the body. (1 of 4 fleshly definitions)

   • Corporeal definition

     Material; tangible; physical. (1 of 2 corporeal definitions)

   • Spirit definition

     The soul of a person or other creature. What moves through experience into self-definition as souls purpose. (1 of 13 spirit definitions)

   • Soul definition

     The spirit or essence of a person usually thought to consist of one's thoughts and personality. Often believed to live on after the person's death. (1 of 7 soul definitions)

   • Corpse definition

     A dead body. (1 of 2 corpse definitions)

   • Person definition

     An individual; usually a human being. (1 of 10 person definitions)

   • Sociology definition

     The study of society, human social interaction and the rules and processes that bind and separate people not only as individuals, but as members of associations, groups and institutions

   • Human Being definition

     A person; a large sapient, bipedal primate, with notably less hair than others of that order, of the species Homo sapiens. (Discuss this sense) (1 of 2 human being definitions)
2. Main section.
   1. The torso, the main structure of a human or animal frame excluding the extremities (limbs, head, tail). [from 9th c.]

      The boxer took a blow to the body.

   2. The largest or most important part of anything, as distinct from its appendages or accessories. [from 11th c.]

      The bumpers and front tyres were ruined, but the body of the car was in remarkable shape.

   3. (archaic) The section of a dress extending from the neck to the waist, excluding the arms. [from 16th c.]

      Penny was in the scullery, pressing the body of her new dress.

   4. The content of a letter, message, or other printed or electronic document, as distinct from signatures, salutations, headers, and so on. [from 17th c.]
   5. (The addition of quotations indicative of this usage is being sought): A bodysuit. [from 19th c.]
   6. (programming) The code of a subroutine, contrasted to its signature and parameters. [from 20th c.]

      In many programming languages, the method body is enclosed in braces.

   • Torso definition

     The main part of the (human) body that extends from the neck to the groin, excluding the head and limbs.

   • Main definition

     Of chief or leading importance; prime, principal. (1 of 6 main definitions)

   • Extremity definition

     The most extreme or furthest point of something. (1 of 4 extremity definitions)

   • Appendage definition

     An external body part that projects from the body. (1 of 3 appendage definitions)

   • Accessory definition

     Having a secondary, supplementary or subordinate function by accompanying as a subordinate; aiding in a secondary way; being additional; being connected as an incident or subordinate to a principal; contributing or being contributory. Said of people and things, and, when of people, usually in a bad sense (1 of 3 accessory definitions)

   • Dress definition

     To fit out with the necessary clothing; to clothe, put clothes on (something or someone). (1 of 16 dress definitions)

   • Content definition

     satisfied

   • Bodysuit definition

     A one-piece, skin-tight garment rather like a leotard.

   • Programming definition

     The designing, scheduling or planning of a radio or television program/programme. (1 of 4 programming definitions)

   • Code definition

     A short symbol, often with little relation to the item it represents. (1 of 11 code definitions)

   • Subroutine definition

     A section of code, called by the main body of a program, that implements a task.

   • Signature definition

     A person's name, written by that person, used as identification or to signify approval of accompanying material, such as a legal contract. (1 of 12 signature definitions)

   • Parameter definition

     A value kept constant during an experiment, equation, calculation or similar, but varied over other versions of the experiment, equation, calculation, etc. (1 of 8 parameter definitions)
3. Coherent group.
   1. A group of people having a common purpose or opinion; a mass. [from 16th c.]

      I was escorted from the building by a body of armed security guards.

   2. An organisation, company or other authoritative group. [from 17th c.]

      The local train operating company is the managing body for this section of track.

   3. A unified collection of details, knowledge or information. [from 17th c.]

      We have now amassed a body of evidence which points to one conclusion.

   • Purpose definition

     An objective to be reached; a target; an aim; a goal. (1 of 6 purpose definitions)

   • Opinion definition

     A belief, judgment or perspective that a person has formed, either through objective or subjective reasoning, about a topic, issue, person or thing. (1 of 6 opinion definitions)

   • Mass definition

     Matter, material.

     1. A quantity of matter cohering together so as to make one body, or an aggregation of particles or things which collectively make one body or quantity, usually of considerable size
     2. Precious metal, especially gold or silver.
     3. The quantity of matter which a body contains, irrespective of its bulk or volume. It is one of four fundamental properties of matter. It is measured in kilograms in the SI system of measurement.
     4. A medicinal substance made into a cohesive, homogeneous lump, of consistency suitable for making pills; as, blue mass.
     5. A palpable or visible abnormal globular structure; a tumor.
     6. Excess body weight, especially in the form of muscle hypertrophy.
     7. Synonym of weight

     (1 of 13 mass definitions)

   • Organisation definition

     Standard spelling of organization.

   • Company definition

     A team; a group of people who work together professionally.

     1. A group of individuals who work together for a common purpose. (1 of 11 company definitions)

   • Authoritative definition

     Arising or originating from a figure of authority (1 of 3 authoritative definitions)

   • Unified definition

     simple past tense and past participle of unify

   • Detail definition

     Something small enough to escape casual notice. (1 of 9 detail definitions)

   • Knowledge definition

     The fact of knowing about something; general understanding or familiarity with a subject, place, situation etc. (1 of 12 knowledge definitions)

   • Information definition

     That which resolves uncertainty; anything that answers the question of "what a given entity is". (1 of 13 information definitions)
4. Material entity.
   1. Any physical object or material thing. [from 14th c.]

      All bodies are held together by internal forces.

   2. (uncountable) Substance; physical presence. [from 17th c.]
      • 1922, Virginia Woolf, Jacob's Room Chapter 1

        The voice had an extraordinary sadness. Pure from all body, pure from all passion, going out into the world, solitary, unanswered, breaking against rocks—so it sounded.

      We have given body to what was just a vague idea.

   3. (uncountable) Comparative viscosity, solidity or substance (in wine, colours etc.). [from 17th c.]

      The red wine, sadly, lacked body.

   4. An agglomeration of some substance, especially one that would be otherwise uncountable.
      • 1806 June 26, Thomas Paine, "The cause of Yellow Fever and the means of preventing it, in places not yet infected with it, addressed to the Board of Health in America", The political and miscellaneous works of Thomas Paine, page 179:

        In a gentle breeze, the whole body of air, as far as the breeze extends, moves at the rate of seven or eight miles an hour; in a high wind, at the rate of seventy, eighty, or an hundred miles an hour […]

      • 2012 March 19, Helge Løseth, Nuno Rodrigues and Peter R. Cobbold, "World's largest extrusive body of sand?", Geology, volume 40, issue 5

        Using three-dimensional seismic and well data from the northern North Sea, we describe a large (10 km³) body of sand and interpret it as extrusive.

      • 2018, VOA Learning English > China's Melting Glacier Brings Visitors, Adds to Climate Concerns

        The huge body of ice is in the southeastern edge of a Central Asian region called the Third Pole. 

      The English Channel is a body of water lying between Great Britain and France.

   • Object definition

     A thing that has physical existence. (1 of 7 object definitions)

   • Material definition

     Having to do with matter; consisting of matter. (1 of 3 material definitions)

   • Viscosity definition

     The state of being viscous. (1 of 3 viscosity definitions)

   • Solidity definition

     The state or quality of being solid. (1 of 3 solidity definitions)

   • Substance definition

     Physical matter; material. (1 of 7 substance definitions)

   • Agglomeration definition

     The act or process of collecting in a mass; a heaping together. (1 of 4 agglomeration definitions)
5. (printing) The shank of a type, or the depth of the shank (by which the size is indicated).

   a nonpareil face on an agate body

   • Printing definition

     The process or business of producing printed material by means of inked type and a printing press or similar technology. (1 of 4 printing definitions)

   • Shank definition

     The part of the leg between the knee and the ankle. (1 of 18 shank definitions)

   • Type definition

     A grouping based on shared characteristics; a class. (1 of 15 type definitions)
6. (geometry) A three-dimensional object, such as a cube or cone.

   • Geometry definition

     The branch of mathematics dealing with spatial relationships. (1 of 3 geometry definitions)

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:body
• See also Thesaurus:corpse

Derived terms

Pages starting with “body”.

Translations

See also

• corporal
• corporeal

Verb

body (third-person singular simple present bodies, present participle bodying, simple past and past participle bodied)

1. To give body or shape to something.

   • Shape definition

     The status or condition of something (1 of 8 shape definitions)
2. To construct the bodywork of a car.

   • Bodywork definition

     The exterior body of a motor vehicle. (1 of 4 bodywork definitions)
3. (transitive) To embody.
   • 1955, Philip Larkin, Toads:

     I don't say, one bodies the other / One's spiritual truth; / But I do say it's hard to lose either, / When you have both.

   • Embody definition

     To represent in a physical or concrete form; to incarnate or personify. (1 of 4 embody definitions)
4. (transitive, slang, African-American Vernacular) To murder someone.

   • Murder definition

     The crime of deliberately killing another person without justification. (1 of 5 murder definitions)
5. (transitive, slang, African-American Vernacular, by extension) To utterly defeat someone.

   • Utterly definition

     completely, entirely, to the fullest extent

   • Defeat definition

     To overcome in battle or contest. (1 of 3 defeat definitions)
6. (transitive, slang, video games) to hard counter a particular character build or play style. Frequently used in the passive voice form, get bodied by.

   • Video Game definition

     A type of game existing as and controlled by software, usually run by a video game console or a computer, played on a video terminal or television screen, and controlled by a paddle, joystick, joypad, mouse, or keyboard.

References

Anagrams

• BYOD, Boyd, Doby, do by

Czech

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈbodɪ/
• Rhymes: -odɪ
• Hyphenation: bo‧dy

Etymology 1

From English body, bodysuit.

Noun

body n (indeclinable)

1. bodysuit, leotard

   • Leotard definition

     A one-piece skintight garment with or without sleeves and without legs (often worn by gymnasts, acrobats, wrestlers, female swimmers, etc.)

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the main entry.

Noun

body

1. nominative/accusative/vocative/instrumental plural of bod

   • Bod definition

     The body. (1 of 2 bod definitions)

Anagrams

• doby

Dutch

Etymology

Borrowed from English body.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈbɔ.di/

• Audio

  (file)

• Hyphenation: bo‧dy

Noun

body m (plural body's, diminutive body'tje n)

1. A leotard.
2. Body, substance.

Finnish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈbody/, [ˈbo̞dy]
• IPA^(key): /ˈbodi/, [ˈbo̞di]
• Rhymes: -ody
• Homophone: bodi
• Syllabification: bo‧dy

Noun

body

1. snapsuit, diaper shirt, onesies (infant bodysuit)

   • Snapsuit definition

     A baby's bodysuit with a snap fastener at the crotch.

   • Onesies definition

     plural of onesie

Declension

Pronunciation ˈbody:

Italian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈbɔ.di/

Noun

body m (invariable)

1. leotard

   Synonym: calzamaglia

   • Calzamaglia definition

     tights (1 of 2 calzamaglia definitions)

Further reading

• body in Treccani.it – Vocabolario Treccani on line, Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana

Scots

Alternative forms

• bodie

Etymology

From Middle English body, bodiȝ, from Old English bodiġ, bodeġ (“body, trunk, chest, torso, height, stature”).

Noun

body (plural bodies)

1. body

   • Body definition

     Physical frame.

     1. The physical structure of a human or animal seen as one single organism. (1 of 24 body definitions)
2. person, human being

Spanish

Noun

body m (plural bodys or bodies)

1. bodysuit