necropsy

noun nec·rop·sy \ ˈne-ˌkräp-sē \

|Updated on: 18 Aug 2018

Examples: necropsy in a Sentence

Editor's Note: Did You Know?

Definition of necropsy

plural necropsies

: autopsy 1; especially : an autopsy performed on an animal

See necropsy defined for kids

Examples of necropsy in a Sentence

a necropsy failed to definitively establish a cause of death

Recent Examples of necropsy from the Web

Cause of death is undetermined, a necropsy performed by local VCA Animal Hospital.

— matt rocheleau, BostonGlobe.com, "The details of 40 animal deaths, injuries, losses aboard US airlines," 15 Mar. 2018
The cause of death initially was reported as a rare muscle disease by the facility after a necropsy (autopsy) by the facility’s veterinarians was completed.

— bayan wang, azcentral, "Report: Alia the bottlenose dolphin died of a bacterial infection," 29 June 2018
Alaska Airlines management personnel informed the owners and were given approval to conduct a necropsy.

— matt rocheleau, BostonGlobe.com, "The details of 40 animal deaths, injuries, losses aboard US airlines," 15 Mar. 2018
The rare pygmy sperm whale that washed up on an Ipswich beach and later died will be taken to the New England Aquarium for an necropsy, an official said.

— BostonGlobe.com, "Necropsy planned for rare pygmy sperm whale found on Ipswich beach," 13 June 2018
Authorities conducted a necropsy, which is essentially an autopsy for animals, and found Nola had suffered a broken leg, broken jaw and a broken spine.

— jay r. jordan, Houston Chronicle, "Police searching for man they say killed girlfriend’s pet lizard," 30 May 2018
The troopers were transporting the bear's carcass to Fairbanks for a necropsy by biologists from the Department of Fish and Game.

— casey grove, Anchorage Daily News, "Troopers: Man dead in bear attack near Delta Junction," 7 June 2013
The zoo released test results from the necropsies of the two gorillas, Cassius and Naku.

— lainey seyler, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "Milwaukee County Zoo gorillas died from gastrointestinal infections, probably E. coli," 7 June 2018
During the necropsy, Brownlow and his team of scientists found a flimsy 2-inch square of plastic crumpled up in the harp seals’ stomach.

— david doubilet, National Geographic, "How a Seal Pup Died With a Plastic Wrapper in Its Stomach," 31 May 2018

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

Did You Know?

Human autopsies are generally performed either to determine the cause of death or to observe the deadly effects of a disease for research or education purposes. Autopsies may be necessary when tracking an epidemic; they're also performed to discover whether a death might actually have resulted from murder, and if so, what evidence it might reveal that could help catch the murderer. Animal necropsies are actually more common than human autopsies, since a farmer with livestock is always concerned that whatever killed one animal not pose a threat to the others.