1
: having a body : physical
2
: of or relating to the body
bodily comfort
bodily organs
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
Synonyms
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 WebRebecca Jaspan, Mph, Rd, Health, 21 Nov. 2023
Bollea ultimately turned himself in and pleaded no contest to reckless driving with serious bodily harm and was sentenced to eight months in jail in 2008, Reuters reported.
—Mirna Alsharif, NBC News, 19 Nov. 2023
The production, directed by Jo Bonney, leans into the novel’s frank depictions of unbounded lust, gleeful disloyalty and bodily functions.
—Marc Tracy, New York Times, 25 Oct. 2023
She was also charged with escape causing bodily injury, which is a felony, for allegedly trying to escape custody three weeks before the trial began.
—Emily Mae Czachor, CBS News, 16 Nov. 2023
Growing evidence demonstrates that cardiovascular health is closely connected to the function of all your bodily systems—including how your cells age.
—Kaitlin Vogel, Health, 15 Nov. 2023
Expensive products are not immune from babies’ bodily functions and overall attraction to messiness.
—Lauren Brown West-Rosenthal, Parents, 14 Nov. 2023
The only exceptions were cases of ectopic pregnancies and to prevent the mother's death or impairment of a major bodily function.
—Mary Kekatos, ABC News, 7 Nov. 2023
Complex structures and circuits give the hypothalamus a wide range of influence over multiple bodily processes, the first new paper shows.
—Popular Science, 26 Oct. 2023
The New Yorker, 29 Sep. 2023
So were close-ups of characters feeling extremes of emotions, with sweat, hair and bodily detail helping to build on the descent into obsession.
—Will Tizard, Variety, 19 Nov. 2023
Each microphone is positioned in opposing directions, into and outside the patient, to filter exterior ambient noises from a wearer’s bodily sounds.
—Andrew Paul, Popular Science, 16 Nov. 2023
The site’s staff caught backlash for singling out non-public figures for ridicule, putting a bounty out for the unretouched photos from Lena Dunham’s Vogue photoshoot, dabbling in bodily gross-out stories that some found lurid, and for knee-jerk reactions that a cynic might read as rage-bait.
—Erin Gloria Ryan, Rolling Stone, 11 Nov. 2023
Fishing, boating, and camping are allowed, but don’t even think about taking a swim: As the water is for human consumption, bodily contact is forbidden.
—Eric A. Taub, New York Times, 30 Oct. 2023
But bodily processes such as the uterus’ preparation for potential pregnancy could cause differences in how the brain governs glucose metabolism.
—Jocelyn Solis-Moreira, Scientific American, 21 Sep. 2023
Here, bodily nastiness exists unquestioned, for its own sake.
—Vinson Cunningham, The New Yorker, 6 Nov. 2023
The presence of SARS-CoV-2 leads to a bodily inflammatory response.8
A substance called Interleukin-6 (IL-6), which signals the immune system to start working in response to the virus, increases inflammation in the body.
—Leah Groth, Health, 31 Oct. 2023
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Adjective
Electrolytes are minerals that carry an electric charge when they’re dissolved in water or other bodily fluids.
—Rebecca Jaspan, Mph, Rd, Health, 21 Nov. 2023
Bollea ultimately turned himself in and pleaded no contest to reckless driving with serious bodily harm and was sentenced to eight months in jail in 2008, Reuters reported.
—Mirna Alsharif, NBC News, 19 Nov. 2023
The production, directed by Jo Bonney, leans into the novel’s frank depictions of unbounded lust, gleeful disloyalty and bodily functions.
—Marc Tracy, New York Times, 25 Oct. 2023
She was also charged with escape causing bodily injury, which is a felony, for allegedly trying to escape custody three weeks before the trial began.
—Emily Mae Czachor, CBS News, 16 Nov. 2023
Growing evidence demonstrates that cardiovascular health is closely connected to the function of all your bodily systems—including how your cells age.
—Kaitlin Vogel, Health, 15 Nov. 2023
Expensive products are not immune from babies’ bodily functions and overall attraction to messiness.
—Lauren Brown West-Rosenthal, Parents, 14 Nov. 2023
The only exceptions were cases of ectopic pregnancies and to prevent the mother's death or impairment of a major bodily function.
—Mary Kekatos, ABC News, 7 Nov. 2023
Complex structures and circuits give the hypothalamus a wide range of influence over multiple bodily processes, the first new paper shows.
—Popular Science, 26 Oct. 2023
Adverb
In both versions, the fond Brother Abraham (Susannah Perkins) rescues his prostituted charge, but Horwitz seems ambivalent about which bodily surrender—to man or to God—is worse.
—The New Yorker, 29 Sep. 2023
So were close-ups of characters feeling extremes of emotions, with sweat, hair and bodily detail helping to build on the descent into obsession.
—Will Tizard, Variety, 19 Nov. 2023
Each microphone is positioned in opposing directions, into and outside the patient, to filter exterior ambient noises from a wearer’s bodily sounds.
—Andrew Paul, Popular Science, 16 Nov. 2023
The site’s staff caught backlash for singling out non-public figures for ridicule, putting a bounty out for the unretouched photos from Lena Dunham’s Vogue photoshoot, dabbling in bodily gross-out stories that some found lurid, and for knee-jerk reactions that a cynic might read as rage-bait.
—Erin Gloria Ryan, Rolling Stone, 11 Nov. 2023
Fishing, boating, and camping are allowed, but don’t even think about taking a swim: As the water is for human consumption, bodily contact is forbidden.
—Eric A. Taub, New York Times, 30 Oct. 2023
But bodily processes such as the uterus’ preparation for potential pregnancy could cause differences in how the brain governs glucose metabolism.
—Jocelyn Solis-Moreira, Scientific American, 21 Sep. 2023
Here, bodily nastiness exists unquestioned, for its own sake.
—Vinson Cunningham, The New Yorker, 6 Nov. 2023
The presence of SARS-CoV-2 leads to a bodily inflammatory response.8
A substance called Interleukin-6 (IL-6), which signals the immune system to start working in response to the virus, increases inflammation in the body.
—Leah Groth, Health, 31 Oct. 2023
See More
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'bodily.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
Dictionary Entries Near bodily
Cite this Entry
“Bodily.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bodily. Accessed 11 Dec. 2023.
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Kids Definition
Medical Definition
bodily
adjective
bodi·ly
ˈbäd-ᵊl-ē 
: of or relating to the body
bodily organs
More from Merriam-Webster on bodily
Nglish: Translation of bodily for Spanish Speakers
Britannica English: Translation of bodily for Arabic Speakers
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