grave-clothes

A woman carefully folds the grave-clothes on a wooden table.

Definition

1. Noun (plural):
   • Burial garments: "grave-clothes" refers to the clothing or wrappings in which a dead body is dressed or wrapped for burial.
   • Shroud or winding sheet: Specifically, the cloths used to cover or enshroud a corpse, often as part of funeral rites.

Usage Examples

• Noun (plural):
  • The tomb was opened, and the grave-clothes were still neatly arranged around the body. (The burial garments remained undisturbed.)
  • In many ancient cultures, grave-clothes were made of linen and soaked in spices. (The wrappings used for the deceased.)
  • He noticed the grave-clothes were stained with time, but the body was gone. (The burial wrappings showed age.)

Advanced Usage

• "to be bound in grave-clothes": to be wrapped in burial garments, often used in a literal or metaphorical sense.

  • The mummy was bound in layers of grave-clothes, each one carefully preserved. (The corpse was wrapped in burial cloths.)
  • Metaphorically, he felt trapped in the grave-clothes of his past mistakes. (He felt confined by old errors.)

• "grave-clothes of tradition": a poetic or figurative expression meaning outdated customs that restrict.

  • The community shed the grave-clothes of old superstitions to embrace progress. (They abandoned restrictive traditions.)

Variants and Related Words

• Grave-cloth (noun, singular): a single piece of burial cloth.

  • The archaeologist examined the grave-cloth for signs of decay. (One burial cloth.)

• Shroud (noun): a synonym for grave-clothes, specifically a winding sheet.

  • The body was placed in a simple shroud. (A burial garment.)

• Coffin (noun): the box in which a corpse is buried, often used with grave-clothes.

  • The grave-clothes were folded inside the coffin before burial. (The burial garments were placed in the coffin.)

Synonyms

• Burial garments: clothing specifically for the dead.
• Winding sheet: a cloth used to wrap a corpse.
• Cerements: formal term for grave-clothes, often used in literature.
  • The cerements of the ancient king were made of gold thread. (Formal burial wrappings.)

Related Idioms

• "In grave-clothes": describing something as deathly or funereal.
  • The old house looked like it was draped in grave-clothes, so dark and silent. (The house seemed deathly.)