disinter

verb dis·in·ter \ ˌdis-in-ˈtər \

Definition of disinter

transitive verb

1 :to take out of the grave or tomb

2 :to bring back into awareness or prominence; also :to bring to light :unearth

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disinterment

play \-mənt\ noun

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Examples of disinter in a Sentence

The body was disinterred for further study.
the Egyptian mummy was carefully disinterred in hopes that it would yield secrets about the Old Kingdom

Recent Examples of disinter from the Web

The glass encased skeleton at Wat Pah Nanachat, a forest monastery in northeast Thailand, belonged to a local woman years before the former abbot had her bones disinterred and put on show in the meditation hall.

— joseph hincks / hong kong, Time, "This Is How It Feels to Eat 13-Year-Old Steak," 30 Aug. 2017
In 1846, the remains of several members of the Van Brunt family were disinterred from the property and buried at Green-Wood Cemetery.

— michael wilson, New York Times, "19th-Century Diary Suggests Slaves Are Buried in Brooklyn Lot," 4 Aug. 2017
In 1993, the State Archaeologist was requested to disinter the remains of Henry Opukaha'ia for repatriation to his Hawaiian family.

— Courant Community, "Community News For The Colchester Edition," 17 July 2017
The church closed its own burial ground on Fulton Street, disinterring and moving the bodies, including some that had been laid to rest before the Revolutionary War.

— james barron, New York Times, "A Hemmed-In Cemetery Finds a Bit More Space," 22 June 2017
Simon Mezes, responsible for having platted the city of Redwood during the 1850s, was disinterred and moved to a cemetery in Colma.

— shirley burgett, The Mercury News, "Matters Historical: Why Union Cemetery is a California Historical Landmark," 31 May 2017
Nininger's remains were disinterred and identified but the identification was later overturned by officials because of what was perceived as a discrepancy in the length of a femur bone.

— meg jones, USA TODAY, "Families of World War II MIAs sue to identify remains," 27 May 2017
The indictment alleges the parents intentionally abused, disinterred, removed or carried away the body of Rowdy Sterling-Michael Nelson.

— everton bailey jr. | the oregonian/oregonlive, OregonLive.com, "Dad of baby found dead in bag booked into jail on abuse of corpse charge," 10 May 2017
Eventually, the efforts worked and the DoD agreed to disinter the 27.

— National Geographic, "Hero Lost at Pearl Harbor Comes Home After Years in an Unknown Grave," 8 Nov. 2016

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'disinter.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.