exhume

verb ex·hume \ ig-ˈzüm , igz-ˈyüm , iks-ˈ(h)yüm \

|Updated on: 10 Jun 2018

Examples: exhume in a Sentence

Definition of exhume

exhumed; exhuming

transitive verb

1 : disinter

exhume a body

2 : to bring back from neglect or obscurity

exhumed a great deal of information from the archives

—

exhumation

play \ˌeks-(h)yü-ˈmā-shən, ˌeg-zü-, ˌegz-yü-\ noun

—

exhumer

play \ig-ˈzü-mər, igz-ˈyü-, iks-ˈ(h)yü-\ noun

See exhume defined for English-language learners

See exhume defined for kids

Examples of exhume in a Sentence

the remains of John Paul Jones were exhumed in Paris and transported with great ceremony to the U.S. Naval Academy

Recent Examples of exhume from the Web

She had been found dead at the bottom of a staircase in her house years before — and when her body was exhumed during his trial, a new autopsy marked her cause of death as a homicide too.

— gabriella paiella, The Cut, "All The Staircase Murder Theories, Explained," 7 June 2018
Her remains were exhumed last year as part of the canonization process for sainthood and, once again, a large crowd again paid respects as her bones were laid out in the cathedral for all to see.

— meagan flynn, ajc, "Former slave, on possible path to sainthood, to be entombed in Denver cathedral," 4 June 2018
Twenty years ago this month, the remains of the Vietnam soldier at the tomb were exhumed for mitochondrial DNA testing.

— dawn mitchell, Indianapolis Star, "Hoosier Sentinel at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier was a 'haunting obligation'," 25 May 2018
Her body is expected to be exhumed on Wednesday morning to determine the cause of death.

— Washington Post, "Pakistan arrests father, uncle in Italian’s ‘honor’ killing," 24 Apr. 2018
The files showed that X-35 had been exhumed and sent to Saipan to be identified, along with thousands of others.

— author: dave philipps, Anchorage Daily News, "Lost in battle, found by amateur sleuths: An ‘unknown’ Marine," 19 Apr. 2018
Otherwise, graves are exhumed on a schedule posted at the cemetery entrance and on its website.

— New York Times, "A Chance to Spend 99-Plus Years in Venice (in the Afterlife)," 21 May 2018
District Attorney Edmund Dinis seemed noticeably reluctant to enter the case at all, then pressed belatedly—and vainly—for court permission to exhume Mary Jo’s body so that an autopsy could be performed.

— olivia b. waxman, Time, "The True Story Behind the Movie Chappaquiddick," 6 Apr. 2018
After the bodies of Tsar Nicholas and his family were exhumed and identified in the 1990s, a subsequent DNA test proved Anderson had no relation to the Russian royal family.

— nancy bilyeau, Town & Country, "Will the Real Anastasia Romanov Please Stand Up?," 25 Apr. 2017

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