morgue

noun

1
: a place where the bodies of dead persons are kept temporarily pending identification or release for burial or autopsy
2
: a collection of reference works and files of reference material in a newspaper or news periodical office

Examples of morgue in a Sentence

old news stories found in a newspaper morgue
Recent Examples on the Web The team also reviewed over 5,000 photographs and about 50 hours of footage of the attacks, and visited a morgue, a military base and the locations of several attacks. Sammy Westfall, Washington Post, 5 Mar. 2024 Even on Friday, the morgue where the body was being held delayed its release, according to Ivan Zhdanov, Navalny’s close ally and director of his Anti-Corruption Foundation. Dasha Litvinova and Katie Marie Davies, Los Angeles Times, 1 Mar. 2024 Novaya Gazeta Europe, quoting a paramedic, reported that Navalny's body was initially taken to a district hospital in Salekhard instead of directly to the morgue as is customary in the case of prison deaths. Robyn Dixon, Emily Rauhala, arkansasonline.com, 20 Feb. 2024 And on Monday morning, spokesperson Kira Yarmysh said that Navalny's mother and his lawyers had been denied access to the nearby morgue. Yuliya Talmazan, NBC News, 19 Feb. 2024 Key Facts Navalny’s spokesperson Kira Yarmysh said his mother and lawyers were prevented from entering the prison morgue and received no clear answer when asked if Navalny’s body was there. Siladitya Ray, Forbes, 19 Feb. 2024 In between, every weekend has felt like a visit to TV’s narrative morgue. Daniel Fienberg, The Hollywood Reporter, 22 Feb. 2024 In some cases workers at the morgue had to do their work on portable tables placed outside. Nicholas Bogel-Burroughs, New York Times, 6 Feb. 2024 In the first few weeks of the Covid pandemic, a New Jersey facility that was run by Louis Schwartz, a former Skyline executive, was found to have 15 bodies stuffed into a four-person morgue and 83 resident deaths from Covid. Laura Strickler, NBC News, 22 Jan. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'morgue.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

French

First Known Use

1795, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of morgue was in 1795

Dictionary Entries Near morgue

Cite this Entry

“Morgue.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/morgue. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

morgue

noun
1
: a place where the bodies of the dead are kept temporarily until they are identified or released for burial
2
: a department of a newspaper where reference material is filed

Medical Definition

morgue

noun
: a place where the bodies of dead persons are kept temporarily pending identification or release for burial or autopsy

Legal Definition

morgue

noun
: a place where the bodies of persons found dead are kept until identified and claimed by relatives or released for burial or autopsy

More from Merriam-Webster on morgue

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