as in tombstone
a shaped stone laid over or erected near a grave and usually bearing an inscription to identify and preserve the memory of the deceased
many of the headstones were for children who had died during the influenza epidemic
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Recent Examples of headstone
Originally a cemetary, the headstones were removed in the late 1960s to make way for a park.
—
Abby Hamblin, San Diego Union-Tribune, 30 Dec. 2025
Strathroy | Istock | Getty Images For nearly a century, John Dioguardi’s family has been making custom headstones and other memorial markers at Rome Monument in western Pennsylvania.
—Alex Harring, CNBC, 30 Nov. 2025
But there were obvious omissions; people with military headstones — the type engraved with a name, a branch and a war fought — weren’t on the list.
—Mark Dee, Idaho Statesman, 11 Nov. 2025
Israeli soldiers bulldozed the cemetery down the road with no headstones visible to indicate who is buried where.
—Jane Arraf, NPR, 3 Nov. 2025
See All Example Sentences for headstone
Abby Hamblin, San Diego Union-Tribune, 30 Dec. 2025
Strathroy | Istock | Getty Images For nearly a century, John Dioguardi’s family has been making custom headstones and other memorial markers at Rome Monument in western Pennsylvania.
—Alex Harring, CNBC, 30 Nov. 2025
But there were obvious omissions; people with military headstones — the type engraved with a name, a branch and a war fought — weren’t on the list.
—Mark Dee, Idaho Statesman, 11 Nov. 2025
Israeli soldiers bulldozed the cemetery down the road with no headstones visible to indicate who is buried where.
—Jane Arraf, NPR, 3 Nov. 2025
See All Example Sentences for headstone
Recent Examples of Synonyms for headstone
Noun
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Last year, the City Council approved an ordinance to offer rewards for information involving theft of city plaques, tombstones, statues, light standards, and copper wire, and theft of metals linked to the Sixth Street Bridge.—
City News Service,
Daily News,
18 Feb. 2026
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By day the place was filled with different sorts of tombstones, many of them inside ornamental enclosures.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
13 Feb. 2026
Noun
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Organizers are expecting some 1,500 Olympians, a bit over half those who competed in the Games, to parade into the monument built in the first century for gladiator fights and exotic animal hunts.—
Colleen Barry,
Chicago Tribune,
22 Feb. 2026
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The mansion, often considered a monument to Roaring ‘20s ostentation, stretches from the Intracoastal to the Atlantic Ocean.—
Miami Herald Archives,
Miami Herald,
22 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Headstone.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/headstone. Accessed 1 Mar. 2026.
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