noun
corpse
kawps
noun
1
A dead body, usually of a person.
"Police found the corpse near the riverbank."
"The detective examined the corpse for clues."
verb
1
To burst into uncontrollable laughter while performing, breaking character.
"The actor corpsed halfway through the scene and couldn't finish his line."
How to Use Corpse
Learner’s notesIn plain EnglishA dead body; in theatre slang, to lose it laughing on stage.
Common mistake
Don't confuse with "corps" (an organized group, especially military), which is pronounced differently despite the similar spelling.
Easily confused with
Common pairings
discover a corpse
corpse on stage
Word Forms
corpsed past tense, corpses plural, corpses singular
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Etymology
From Old French cors, "body," from Latin corpus. The silent "p" was added later in English spelling to match the Latin original. A doublet of "corps" and "corpus".