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Glite Dictionary
to embalm

to embalm

28 9.0
Treat a dead body with chemicals to stop it from decaying
  • verb
  • /ɪmˈbɑːlm/
  • Specialized
translation icon : embalsamar
  • He was excellent at removals, an artist in the embalming room, could fix hair like nobody in the business.
  • the embalmed body
  • embalming fluid

I mean, so it's the brain that they embalm that they preserve.

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Examples

  • Inside the amber, a million-year-old fly was embalmed, as fresh and surprised as the moment he died.

    Fiction book (1994)

  • For hundreds of years each Apis bull has been embalmed in exactly the same way.

    Pam Roark: Iraq War Nurse (2020)

  • What if she has him embalmed?

    The Night Listener (2006)

  • Later on, people started wanting to be embalmed and laid out in public.

    Fiction book (1999)

  • And we never had to see an embalmed body, an open casket, or a funeral scene.

    Last Chance Charlene (2022)

  • The farthest table held a male who was in the process of being embalmed.

    Fiction book (1999)

  • Instead, the corpse functions as a witness to Ruysch's success at embalming it.

    Academic text (1996)

  • Once my husband finally passed, that's when they said that the package that I bought didn't cover the cost of embalming or moving the body.

    The Burial (2023)

  • Rosalia Lombardo, far right, embalmed by a secret process eighty-three years ago, looks as if she is napping.

    Academic text (2003)

  • To prepare the body for the funeral, they decided to embalm him with a special solution.

Synonyms

to preserve
vsto embalm
65 3.2

To stop food from going bad so it lasts longer

applies this prevention specifically to dead human remains rather than food
to mummify
vsto embalm
17 8.3

Preserve a dead body by drying it to keep it from rotting

focuses on chemical treatment to prevent decay rather than drying and shriveling
to embalm a body
vsto embalm
  • Specialized
9.8

To stop a dead body from decaying by using chemicals or other methods

is the shorter expression for the same chemical treatment action

Phrasal Verbs

to embalm a body
  • Specialized
9.8

To stop a dead body from decaying by using chemicals or other methods

How Preserved

to mummify
17 8.3
to embalm
  • Specialized
28 9.0
to preserve
496 3.4
to bury
∞ 1.7

Surface Forms

embalm infinitive
embalmed past
embalmed past participle
embalming present participle
embalms third person singular

Morphology

embalm = balm (semi-transparent) = em + balm

Built from 'em-' + 'balm' (putting balm into/onto), but the specialized funerary sense 'preserve a corpse' is not fully obvious to average learners.

Etymology

Embalm comes from the parts em- meaning 'in' and balm, a sweet oily substance once used to heal and protect. People would put balm into a body to stop decay, so to embalm means to treat a dead body so it stays preserved.