Morgue
/mɔːɡ/ noun
noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A supercilious or haughty attitude; arrogance. archaic
"They being newcomers, free from the western morgue so soon caught by Oriental Europeans, were particularly civil to me, even wishing to mix me a strong draught; but I was not so fortunate with all on board."
- 2 a building (or room) where dead bodies are kept before burial or cremation wordnet
- 3 A building or room where dead bodies are kept before their proper burial or cremation, (now) particularly in legal and law enforcement contexts.
- 4 The archive and background information division of a newspaper. archaic
"Librarian Talks of Newspaper Morgue"
Example
More examples"That white building is a morgue."
Etymology
Borrowed from French morgue. The second sense developed from the first, via "a prison examination room", probably with reference to the haughty attitude of the jailers.