body Hear it!

body Definition

body (bäd′ē)

noun pl. bod′·ies

  1. the whole physical structure and substance of a human being, animal, or plant
    1. the trunk or torso of a human being or animal
    2. the part of a garment that covers the trunk
  3. a dead person; corpse
  4. the flesh or material substance, as opposed to the spirit
  5. Informal a human being; person
  6. a group of people or things regarded or functioning as a unit a body of soldiers, an advisory body
  7. the majority of a number of people or things
  8. the main or central part of anything; specif.,
    1. the part of an automobile, truck, etc. that holds the load or passengers; the part of a vehicle that is not the chassis
    2. the hull of a ship
    3. the fuselage of an aircraft
    4. the main part of a piece of writing as distinguished from headings and introductory or supplementary matter
    5. the sound box of a stringed instrument
  9. anything having real or material substance or form; any physical or perceptible object
  10. any of the natural objects seen in the visible heavens the sun, moon, planets, stars, etc. are celestial bodies
  11. a separate portion or mass of matter a body of land or water
  12. substance, density, or consistency, as of a liquid or fabric
  13. richness or fullness of tone or flavor
  14. Law a person or something legally regarded as a person
  15. Printing the shank of a piece of type

Etymology: ME bodi, bodig < OE bodig, trunk, chest, orig. sense “cask,” akin to MLowG boddike, tub for brewing, OHG botah; prob. < It bottega, shop < L apotheca: see apothecary

transitive verb bod′·ied, bod′y·ing

  1. to give a body or substance to; make substantial
  2. to make part of; embody

body Idioms

body forth

  1. to give shape or form to
  2. to symbolize or represent

keep body and soul together

to stay alive

body Synonyms

body

n.

  1. The physical structure of a human or animal

    frame, corporeal frame, physique, anatomy, form, figure, shape, make, mortal part, build, physical makeup, flesh and bones, carcass*, tenement of clay*.

  2. A corpse

    corpse, cadaver, dead body, remains, corpus delicti (Latin), dust, clay, carcass, relics, the dead, the deceased, the departed, mummy, skeleton, ashes, carrion, organic remains, mortal remains, bones, reliquiae (Latin), cold meat*, stiff*.

  3. The torso

    trunk, figure, form, shape, build.

  4. The central portion of an object

    chassis, basis, groundwork, frame, fuselage, assembly, trunk, hull, bed, box, substructure, skeleton, scaffold, anatomy, bones*, guts*; see also essence 1, foundation 2.

  5. The central portion of a composition

    dissertation, discourse, thesis, treatise, argument, material, heart, evidence, demonstration, exposition, gist; see also basis 1, essence 1, theory 1.

    Antonyms introduction*, preface*, preamble. *

  6. Individuals having an organization

    society, group, party; see organization 3.

  7. A unified or organized mass

    aggregate, mass, bulk, variety; see collection 2, whole.

  8. Full consistency

    substance, fullness, richness, thickness; see consistency 2, density 1.

body refers to the whole physical substance of a person or animal, whether dead or alive; corpse and the euphemistic remains refer to a dead human body; carcass is used of the dead body of an animal or, contemptuously or humorously, of the living or dead body of a human being; cadaver refers primarily to a dead human body used for medical dissection

keep body and soul together

stay alive, endure, earn a living; see survive 1.

over one's dead body

not if one can help it, not on one's life, by no means, not at all, no way*.

body Usage Examples

Converse of subject

absorb: This heat kills the salmonella and neutralizes the Avidin to allow it to be digested and absorbed by the body.

Converse of object

govern: Managing the modern bank The 1998 Bank of England Act made changes to the Bank's governing body too.

Adjective modifier

  • regulatory: The Radon Council are a non profit making regulatory body for the radon industry.
  • professional: Find out how you can direct the work of your professional body.
  • statutory: ARTS The Arts Council of Northern Ireland is the statutory body through which public funding for arts in Northern Ireland is channeled.
  • public: There is a huge amount said for public body tendering.
  • human: How do you feel about working on the human body?
  • independent: The annual report of the independent body found that 99.3 % of food samples tested were either residue free or within accepted levels.

Modifies a noun

  • weight: By quantity, we mean enough food for you to maintain a healthy body weight.
  • fat: They found that MCT oils used in place of other dietary fats significantly reduces body fat, resulting in lower weight.
  • temperature: There was no associated rise in the core body temperature of the rats.
  • fluid: The body fluids which contain enough HIV to infect someone are blood, semen, vaginal fluids including menstrual blood, and breast milk.
  • armor: The De Beers Millenium Star diamond attracted robbers with bulldozer, gas masks, body armor and smoke bombs to the Dome.
  • tissue: The toxicity of a substance is its potential to cause harm by reaction with body tissues.

Noun used with modifier

  • umbrella: NCVO National Council for Voluntary Organizations Lots of resources from the main UK umbrella body for charities.
  • governing: Governing bodies are no longer required to hold an annual parents ' meeting, nor to produce a governors ' annual report.
  • funding: We would also be happy to advise in the making of applications to external funding bodies.
  • awarding: BIIAB Qualifications BIIAB is the leading awarding body for the Licensed Retail Sector.
  • certification: To make sure you are buying organic food, look out for an endorsement on the product from a certification body.
  • accountancy: This body brings together all the accountancy bodies in the world.