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
Drained financially after using his savings and online fundraising efforts, Naso can't even afford a headstone for his wife's grave.
—
Eileen Finan, PEOPLE, 21 May 2026
Without headstones, Loving Earth will not look like a conventional cemetery.
—Karina Tsui, CNN Money, 18 May 2026
The Manatee County Sheriff’s Office is investigating vandalism at Old Memphis Cemetery in Palmetto, where deputies say 17 grave sites were damaged with broken and knocked-down headstones, graffiti and damaged concrete.
—Miami Herald, 13 May 2026
Six of the headstones bear the names of firefighters the Soviet press has identified as victims of radiation at Chernobyl, and a cemetery official said Tuesday the plot was for those who died as a result of the nuclear accident.
—ABC News, 25 Apr. 2026
See All Example Sentences for headstone
Eileen Finan, PEOPLE, 21 May 2026
Without headstones, Loving Earth will not look like a conventional cemetery.
—Karina Tsui, CNN Money, 18 May 2026
The Manatee County Sheriff’s Office is investigating vandalism at Old Memphis Cemetery in Palmetto, where deputies say 17 grave sites were damaged with broken and knocked-down headstones, graffiti and damaged concrete.
—Miami Herald, 13 May 2026
Six of the headstones bear the names of firefighters the Soviet press has identified as victims of radiation at Chernobyl, and a cemetery official said Tuesday the plot was for those who died as a result of the nuclear accident.
—ABC News, 25 Apr. 2026
See All Example Sentences for headstone
Recent Examples of Synonyms for headstone
Noun
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The Pontiac Gazette newspaper in Oakland County reported storm damage included apple and peach trees uprooted or twisted, churches destroyed, and cemetery tombstones blown down.—
Paula Wethington,
CBS News,
26 May 2026
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The veil of past and present, for example, takes an abstract turn in Altar I, while Todos los santos (Para subir al Cielo) shows a cemetery with various cross-shaped tombstones, with a ladder leaning on a wall spectrally overlaid on the image.—
Maximilíano Durón,
ARTnews.com,
22 May 2026
Noun
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The Marby grave brings together cremation, a stone monument, and this ritualistic deposit of bronze objects, which is synonymous with the end of this era when the treatment and use of bronze objects changed—often left in hoards on land or in water, sometimes as offerings to gods or divinities.—
Maria Mocerino,
Interesting Engineering,
31 May 2026
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Fans marched along the avenues near Paris’ Arc de Triomphe monument, with some setting off flares and blaring car horns.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
31 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Headstone.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/headstone. Accessed 4 Jun. 2026.
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