Entomb
verb ·Uncommon ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 To deposit (a corpse) in a tomb. transitive
"At Cihhu (Cihu), near the town of Dasi (Daxi), 30 miles (50 km) southwest of Taipei on Provincial Highway 7, Chiang Kai-shek lies entombed above ground in a granite and marble coffin in one of his former country villas. The gravesite is “temporary,” as before his death Chiang had requested his body be returned to his native province of Zhejiang in mainland China."
- 2 place in a grave or tomb wordnet
- 3 To confine (someone or something) in restrictive surroundings. figuratively, transitive
"You mocking Birds (quoth ſhe) your tunes intombe / VVithin your hollovv ſvvelling feathered breaſts, / […] / Raliſh your nimble notes to pleaſing eares, / Diſtres likes dũps vvhẽ [dumps when] time is kept vvith teares."
Example
More examples"At Cihhu (Cihu), near the town of Dasi (Daxi), 30 miles (50 km) southwest of Taipei on Provincial Highway 7, Chiang Kai-shek lies entombed above ground in a granite and marble coffin in one of his former country villas. The gravesite is “temporary,” as before his death Chiang had requested his body be returned to his native province of Zhejiang in mainland China."
Etymology
From Old French entomber (“deposit in a tomb”). Equivalent to en- + tomb.
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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.