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
After enduring years of thieves stealing headstones, the owner of a Compton cemetery decided to sell the property after a person stabbed her three dogs on Friday.
—
Nicole Comstock, CBS News, 12 Apr. 2026
The town of Red Ash was abandoned in the 1950s, and today, the island lies quietly as a part of West Virginia’s history, with just a handful of headstones remaining.
—Jordan Charbonneau, Travel + Leisure, 12 Apr. 2026
Sifuentes said Moreno told her that the headstone was taking a while to arrive because the materials were not available.
—Gabriella Ybarra, San Antonio Express-News, 7 Apr. 2026
That headstone, curiously, belonged to a man with the same last name as his and sparked the unraveling of historical mysteries surrounding this town.
—Patrick Connolly, The Orlando Sentinel, 18 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for headstone
Nicole Comstock, CBS News, 12 Apr. 2026
The town of Red Ash was abandoned in the 1950s, and today, the island lies quietly as a part of West Virginia’s history, with just a handful of headstones remaining.
—Jordan Charbonneau, Travel + Leisure, 12 Apr. 2026
Sifuentes said Moreno told her that the headstone was taking a while to arrive because the materials were not available.
—Gabriella Ybarra, San Antonio Express-News, 7 Apr. 2026
That headstone, curiously, belonged to a man with the same last name as his and sparked the unraveling of historical mysteries surrounding this town.
—Patrick Connolly, The Orlando Sentinel, 18 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for headstone
Recent Examples of Synonyms for headstone
Noun
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Workmen are erecting identical marble tombstones.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
25 Apr. 2026
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And on April 19, congregants toured Pensacola’s Jewish cemetery, where the oldest tombstone dates from 1874 and many inscriptions are in Hebrew and German as well as English.—
Larry Luxner,
Sun Sentinel,
20 Apr. 2026
Noun
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Leave the monuments to the developers and let city employees work in a clean, safe and frugal environment.—
Sun Sentinel Editorial Board,
Sun Sentinel,
25 Apr. 2026
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The exhibition is the brainchild of guest curator Paul Farber, who spent years exploring the meaning of the statue and public monuments — including through his NPR podcasts — before bringing the conversation into the museum.—
CBS News,
CBS News,
25 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Headstone.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/headstone. Accessed 30 Apr. 2026.
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