carcass

noun

car·​cass ˈkär-kəs 

1

: a dead body : corpse

especially : the dressed body of a meat animal

Butchers trimmed the meat from the carcass.

2

: the living, material, or physical body

It was nearly noon when he finally hauled his carcass out of bed.

3

: the decaying or worthless remains of a structure

the carcass of an abandoned automobile

4

: the underlying structure or frame of something (as of a piece of furniture)

Synonyms

• bones
• cadaver
• corpse
• corpus
• corse [archaic]
• relics
• remains
• stiff

Examples of carcass in a Sentence

the rusting carcass of an old truck

the carcass of a squirrel that had been run over

Recent Examples on the Web

Marsh reported the carcasses to the Whiting Parks Department, who then found about 40 birds in the lake’s ice shelf. —Chicago Tribune, 17 Feb. 2025

In India, vultures were nearly driven to extinction after scavenging on the carcasses of cows that had been given a common painkiller. —Emily Elconin, New York Times, 16 Feb. 2025

The third piece of evidence is the hanging carcass which can be found where the Lower Semine poacher was sitting. —Thomas G. Moukawsher, Newsweek, 5 Feb. 2025

The situation had become a national crisis by 2012, when 425 of the park’s rhinos were poached, their horns chopped off and the carcasses left to rot. —Dac Collins, Outdoor Life, 29 Jan. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Middle English carcays, from Anglo-French carcas, carkeis

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for carcass

• arcus

Kids Definition

carcass

noun

car·​cass ˈkär-kəs 

: a dead body

especially : the body of a meat animal prepared for market

Medical Definition

carcass

noun

car·​cass ˈkär-kəs 

: a dead body : corpse

especially : the dressed body of a meat animal