: a combustible heap for burning a dead body as a funeral rite
broadly
: a pile of material to be burned
a pyre of dead leaves
Examples of pyre in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Flaked points of stone tools were also found on the pyre, suggesting the pointed stones were added during the cremation as funerary objects.
—
Ashley Strickland, CNN Money, 6 Jan. 2026
At Mount Hora, archaeologists discovered the oldest human cremation in Africa and the oldest in situ adult pyre in the world.
—Maria Mocerino, Interesting Engineering, 4 Jan. 2026
An open pyre can take more than a day of constant tending and an enormous amount of fuel to fully reduce a body, and during this time the sights and smells of burning wood and other remains are impossible to hide.
—Elizabeth Sawchuk, The Conversation, 1 Jan. 2026
In the dry California hills, an intentional community tries to build a pyre for one of its own, and, in the complex and mendacious aftermath, may end up sort of burning down the nation-state.
—Helen Shaw, New Yorker, 14 Dec. 2025
See All Example Sentences for pyre
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Ashley Strickland, CNN Money, 6 Jan. 2026
At Mount Hora, archaeologists discovered the oldest human cremation in Africa and the oldest in situ adult pyre in the world.
—Maria Mocerino, Interesting Engineering, 4 Jan. 2026
An open pyre can take more than a day of constant tending and an enormous amount of fuel to fully reduce a body, and during this time the sights and smells of burning wood and other remains are impossible to hide.
—Elizabeth Sawchuk, The Conversation, 1 Jan. 2026
In the dry California hills, an intentional community tries to build a pyre for one of its own, and, in the complex and mendacious aftermath, may end up sort of burning down the nation-state.
—Helen Shaw, New Yorker, 14 Dec. 2025
See All Example Sentences for pyre
Cite this Entry
“Pyre.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pyre. Accessed 20 Jan. 2026.
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pyre
noun
: a heap of wood for burning a dead body
also
: a pile of material to be burned
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