Body Definition

bŏdē
bodied, bodies, bodying
noun
bodies
The whole physical structure and substance of a human being, animal, or plant.
Webster's New World
The trunk or torso of a human being or animal.
Webster's New World
The flesh or material substance, as opposed to the spirit.
Webster's New World
A dead person; corpse.
Webster's New World
The part of a garment that covers the trunk.
Webster's New World
verb
bodied, bodies, bodying
To give a body or substance to; make substantial.
Webster's New World
To give shape to. Usually used with forth:
American Heritage
To make part of; embody.
Webster's New World
To play defense with one's body up against (that of another player) so as to restrict the player's mobility, as in basketball.
American Heritage
To collide with and force (another player) in a certain direction.
Bodied him off the puck.
American Heritage
idiom
take the body
  • To play in a rough physical way, dealing out many body checks, as in hockey.
American Heritage
body forth
  • to give shape or form to
  • to symbolize or represent
Webster's New World
keep body and soul together
  • to stay alive
Webster's New World

Other Word Forms of Body

Noun

Singular:
body
Plural:
bodies

Idioms, Phrasal Verbs Related to Body

Origin of Body

  • From Middle English body, bodiȝ, from Old English bodiġ, bodeġ (“body, trunk, chest, torso, height, stature”), from Proto-Germanic *budagą, *budagaz (“body, trunk", also "grown”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰewdʰ- (“to be awake, observe”). Cognate with German Bottech (“body, trunk, corpse”), Bavarian and Swabian Bottich (“body, trunk”).

    From Wiktionary

  • Middle English bodi from Old English bodig

    From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition

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