Definition

1. Verb:
   • To dig up (something buried, especially a dead body) from the ground, typically for the purpose of reburial elsewhere or for medical or legal investigation.

Usage

• The verb "exhume" is used in formal or technical contexts, particularly in legal, medical, and archaeological fields. It describes the deliberate act of removing a corpse from its burial place.
• It is a transitive verb and is often used in the passive voice (e.g., "The body was exhumed").
• Example:

Examples

• Verb:
  • The police obtained a court order to exhume the victim's remains.
  • Ancient tombs are sometimes exhumed by archaeologists to study past civilizations.
  • The family decided to exhume their grandfather's coffin to move it to the family plot.

Advanced Usage

• "to exhume the past": This is a figurative use meaning to bring old memories, secrets, or historical facts back to attention.
  • The journalist's article exhumed long-forgotten scandals from the city's history.

Variants and Related Words

• Exhumation (n): The act or process of exhuming.
  • The exhumation of the body was carried out at dawn.

Synonyms

• Disinter: To dig up (something buried). This is a direct synonym.
• Unearth: To find something in the ground by digging. It can be used literally for bodies or figuratively for secrets/information.

Antonyms

• Bury: To place a dead body in the ground.
• Inter: A more formal term meaning to bury a dead body.

Related Phrases

• Order an exhumation: The legal or official command to dig up a body.
  • The judge had to order an exhumation to review the evidence.
• Exhume for examination: Specifically states the purpose is for medical or forensic analysis.
  • The corpse was exhumed for examination by a new forensic expert.

Verb

1. dig up for reburial or for medical investigation; of dead bodies