Crossword Dictionary

What's The Definition Of Carcass?

\Car"cass\ (k[aum]r"kas), n.; pl. {Carcasses}. [Written also {carcase}.] [F. carcasse, fr. It. carcassa, fr. L. caro flesh + capsa chest, box, case. Cf. {Carnal}, {Case} a sheath.] 1. A dead body, whether of man or beast; a corpse; now commonly the dead body of a beast. He turned to see the carcass of the lion. --Judges xiv. 8. This kept thousands in the town whose carcasses went into the great pits by cartloads. --De Foe. 2. The living body; -- now commonly used in contempt or ridicule. ``To pamper his own carcass.'' --South. Lovely her face; was ne'er so fair a creature. For earthly carcass had a heavenly feature. --Oldham. 3. 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. A rotten carcass of a boat. --Shak. 4. (Mil.) A hollow case or shell, filled with combustibles, to be thrown from a mortar or howitzer, to set fire to buldings, ships, etc. A discharge of carcasses and bombshells. --W. Iving.