crematory

noun

cre·​ma·​to·​ry ˈkrē-mə-ˌtȯr-ē 

ˈkre-

plural crematories

: a furnace for cremating

also : a place where the bodies of the dead are cremated : crematorium

… to help families with the most complicated logistics: filing the death certificate, getting the body released from a hospital, transporting it to the crematory or cemetery.

—April Dembosky

crematory adjective

Examples of crematory in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The crematory service has also been accused of stacking bodies on top of one another, not storing bodies at the proper temperature, letting arms and legs hang out of body bags and more, according to the lawsuit filed May 5 in the Superior Court for the District of Columbia. —Jennifer Rodriguez, Miami Herald, 9 June 2025

Recognizing that people suffer a loss when a pet dies, Patch said in 2016, the company purchased the house immediately north of the Sheridan Road location and named it Life After Fetch — a crematory for pets. —Steve Sadin, Chicago Tribune, 17 June 2025

In normal times, having a couple dozen waiting caskets in the crematory is considered a bottleneck; at the height of the pandemic, there were seventy-five. —Paige Williams, New Yorker, 2 June 2025

Fred excitedly tells her about all the breakthroughs in crematory science. —Louis Peitzman, Vulture, 8 May 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1876, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for crematory

• allegory
• amatory
• auditory
• category
• clerestory
• desultory
• dilatory
• dormitory
• excretory
• extempore
• feudatory
• gustatory

Kids Definition

crematory

1 of 2 noun

cre·​ma·​to·​ry

ˈkrē-mə-ˌtōr-ē,

ˈkrem-ə-,

-ˌtȯr-

plural crematories

: a furnace for cremating or a building containing such a furnace

crematory

2 of 2 adjective

: of, relating to, or used in cremation

Medical Definition

crematory

noun

cre·​ma·​to·​ry ˈkrē-mə-ˌtōr-ē, ˈkrem-ə-, -ˌtȯr- 

plural crematories

: a furnace for cremating

also : an establishment containing such a furnace

crematory adjective