Definition

1. Noun:

   • A small, often decorative box for holding valuable items: A "casket" is a small, sturdy box, frequently ornamented, designed to store jewelry, letters, or other precious objects.
   • A coffin: In American English, "casket" is the common term for the box in which a corpse is buried or cremated. It often implies a more rectangular and furnished design than a traditional coffin.

2. Verb:

   • To place or enclose in a casket: The act of putting something, typically a deceased body, into a burial or cremation casket.

Examples

• Noun (Small Box):
  • She kept her grandmother's pearls in a beautiful wooden casket.
  • The antique silver casket contained a collection of old love letters.
• Noun (Coffin):
  • The funeral director showed the family a selection of caskets.
  • His ashes were placed in a simple marble casket.
• Verb:
  • The deceased was casketed in a private ceremony before the public viewing.

Advanced Usage

• Poetic/Literary Use: The word can be used metaphorically to suggest something that encloses or contains something precious or final.
  • The night was a casket of stars. (Here, "casket" poetically means a container holding the "jewels" of the stars.)
• "Casket letter": A historical term for a letter or document of great importance, originally one stored in a casket.
  • The museum displayed the famous casket letters of Mary, Queen of Scots.

Variants and Related Words

• Coffin (n): The more common term outside North America for a burial box, typically with a tapered hexagonal shape.
• Urn (n): A vase-like container for holding the ashes of a cremated person.
• Jewelry box (n): A common synonym for "casket" in its first meaning.
• Casketed (adj.): Describes something that has been placed in a casket.
  • The casketed remains were transported to the cemetery.

Synonyms

• For the small box: Jewel case, chest, strongbox, coffer.
• For the coffin: Coffin, burial case, sarcophagus (for stone caskets).

Related Phrases

• Casket team: The group of pallbearers who carry the casket at a funeral.
  • The honor guard served as the casket team at the state funeral.
• Casket spray: A large floral arrangement placed on top of a closed casket.
  • The casket spray was made of her favorite white lilies.

Noun

1. small and often ornate box for holding jewels or other valuables
2. box in which a corpse is buried or cremated

Verb

1. enclose in a casket