body count

noun

1
: a count of the bodies of killed enemy soldiers
2
: the number of persons involved in a particular activity

Examples of body count in a Sentence

The rising body count fueled opposition to the war.
Recent Examples on the Web Washington is back from Estonia, training Ukrainian bomb disposal operatives, having suffered post-traumatic stress disorder after the high body count of Season One. John Hopewell, Variety, 19 Mar. 2024 And no matter one’s political stripe, the war’s staggering body count was hard to justify. Franklin Foer, The Atlantic, 1 Mar. 2024 The body count is startling enough, but the infection rate is astounding: Up to 1.2 billion people (roughly 15 percent of the world’s population) are thought to carry this parasite. Cody Cottier, Discover Magazine, 29 Feb. 2024 As the body count rises, the town scrambles to uncover the motive behind the madness, revealing a plot more twisted than anyone could have imagined. Travis Bean, Forbes, 23 Feb. 2024 As the body count rises, the investigation zeros in on the dead businessman's connection to a hydroelectric infrastructure project. David Faris, theweek, 14 Jan. 2024 The show has already been renewed for a fourth season, further adding to the body count in the building. —Jennifer Ouellette The Afterparty S2 (Apple TV+) Enlarge Apple TV+ Those who love Only Murders in the Building should also enjoy Apple TV's take on the comedic whodunnit genre, The Afterparty. Ars Staff, Ars Technica, 29 Dec. 2023 That will put the total body count — indoors and outside — at around 190, Garrett Rose says. Michael Deeds, Idaho Statesman, 1 Feb. 2024 The film describes the heyday of drug trafficking in Miami in particular, exploring how the kingpins held power through scare tactics and keeping the body count sky high. Melissa Sherrard, EW.com, 16 Sep. 2023

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'body count.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1962, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of body count was in 1962

Dictionary Entries Near body count

Cite this Entry

“Body count.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/body%20count. Accessed 28 Mar. 2024.

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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