tomb

1 of 2

noun

ˈtüm 

1

a

: an excavation in which a corpse is buried : grave

b

: a place of interment

2

: a house, chamber, or vault for the dead

3

: a building or structure resembling a tomb (as in appearance)

tombless

ˈtüm-ləs 

adjective

tomb

2 of 2

verb

tombed; tombing; tombs

transitive verb

: bury, entomb

Synonyms of tomb

Noun

• burial
• grave
• cemetery
• sepulchre

Verb

• bury
• inter

Examples of tomb in a Sentence

Noun

the tomb of Alexander the Great

explored the historic graveyard and saw tombs that dated back two centuries

Verb

Forest Lawn is where many of Tinseltown's immortals are tombed for all eternity.

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

Last year, the museum returned fragments of a silk manuscript from China that dated to more than 2,000 years ago and had been looted from a tomb. — ABC News, 24 Sep. 2026

Back then, the town was a rural, rapidly industrializing fringe of Hangzhou with a largely undeveloped archaeological site that featured Neolithic tombs and settlements buried deep beneath farmland. — Afra Wang, New Yorker, 23 Sep. 2026

New data suggest evidence of previously unknown tunnels and chambers extend beyond Tutankhamun’s tomb in Egypt, which could theoretically house the remains of Nefertiti, according to an exclusive Nature report. — Devorah Lauter, ARTnews.com, 18 Sep. 2026

More recently, cosmic rays have helped geologists see hidden chambers of active volcanoes, and archaeologists use them to reveal hidden tombs in ancient Egyptian pyramids. — Jesse Liu, The Conversation, 14 Sep. 2026

Word History

Etymology

Noun

Middle English tombe, from Anglo-French tumbe, from Late Latin tumba sepulchral mound, from Greek tymbos; perhaps akin to Latin tumēre to be swollen — more at thumb entry 1

First Known Use

Noun

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Verb

13th century, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for tomb

• blume
• boom
• broom
• doom
• flume
• fume
• gloom
• glume
• groom
• loom
• plume
• rheum

Kids Definition

tomb

noun

ˈtüm

1

: grave entry 2 sense 1

2

: a house or burial chamber for dead people