1
a
: in the flesh
b
: in a manner that involves physically moving someone's body
The blast lifted him bodily into the air.
Jerry Wexler called him a "parasite" and threw him bodily out of his office.—
Jack Kroll
Jack Kroll2
: as a whole : altogether
Examples of bodily in a Sentence
Adjective
The victim suffered serious bodily injury.
the old man suffered from a number of bodily ailments
Adverb
The blast lifted him bodily into the air.
The house will have to be moved bodily to the new site.
Recent Examples on the Web
Justin Kabumba, Los Angeles Times, 25 May 2026
Charges can elevate to a first-degree felony if parents don’t safely secure firearms, which the minor then obtains and uses to cause death or great bodily injury, which is punishable by up to three years, Bala said.
—Emma Tucker, CNN Money, 24 May 2026
Miami Herald Archives, Miami Herald, 20 May 2026
Out back, a small sewage-treatment plant converts bodily waste from two flanking portable toilets into purified water, which is piped into a large tank in which yet another unclothed woman, wearing a scuba mouthpiece, floats for four hours at a time.
—Sebastian Smee, The Atlantic, 16 May 2026
See All Example Sentences for bodily
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Adjective
The Ebola virus is spread through close contact with sick or deceased patients’ bodily fluids, such as sweat, blood, feces or vomit.
—Justin Kabumba, Los Angeles Times, 25 May 2026
Charges can elevate to a first-degree felony if parents don’t safely secure firearms, which the minor then obtains and uses to cause death or great bodily injury, which is punishable by up to three years, Bala said.
—Emma Tucker, CNN Money, 24 May 2026
Adverb
Alejandre sometimes bodily threw himself into protest.
—Miami Herald Archives, Miami Herald, 20 May 2026
Out back, a small sewage-treatment plant converts bodily waste from two flanking portable toilets into purified water, which is piped into a large tank in which yet another unclothed woman, wearing a scuba mouthpiece, floats for four hours at a time.
—Sebastian Smee, The Atlantic, 16 May 2026
See All Example Sentences for bodily
Cite this Entry
“Bodily.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bodily. Accessed 30 May. 2026.
Copy CitationKids Definition
Medical Definition
bodily
adjective
bodi·ly
ˈbäd-ᵊl-ē 
: of or relating to the body
bodily organs
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