as in autopsy
examination of a dead body especially to find out the cause of death
a coroner performed the postmortem examination with painstaking thoroughness
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Recent Examples of postmortem examination
While the postmortem examination took two hours to complete, Francisco decided to make a public statement about Elvis Presley‘s cause of death midway through the process without the consent of his fellow pathologists.
—
Jenzia Burgos, StyleCaster, 9 Oct. 2024
Detective Superintendent Mike Brown of Suffolk Police said during a coroner's inquest in Ipswich on Friday, Oct. 4, that the 59-year-old was determined to have drowned following a postmortem examination, the BBC and The Guardian report.
—Abigail Adams, People.com, 4 Oct. 2024
The victims, including American Hersh Goldberg-Polin, 23, were killed on the evening of Aug. 29 in Rafah’s Tal Al Sultan neighborhood, the Israel Defense Forces said, citing postmortem examinations of the bodies.
—Raf Sanchez, NBC News, 10 Sep. 2024
Smith was pronounced dead and taken to the Marin County coroner’s office for a postmortem examination, officials said.
—Caroline Petrow-Cohen, Los Angeles Times, 4 May 2024
See All Example Sentences for postmortem examination
Jenzia Burgos, StyleCaster, 9 Oct. 2024
Detective Superintendent Mike Brown of Suffolk Police said during a coroner's inquest in Ipswich on Friday, Oct. 4, that the 59-year-old was determined to have drowned following a postmortem examination, the BBC and The Guardian report.
—Abigail Adams, People.com, 4 Oct. 2024
The victims, including American Hersh Goldberg-Polin, 23, were killed on the evening of Aug. 29 in Rafah’s Tal Al Sultan neighborhood, the Israel Defense Forces said, citing postmortem examinations of the bodies.
—Raf Sanchez, NBC News, 10 Sep. 2024
Smith was pronounced dead and taken to the Marin County coroner’s office for a postmortem examination, officials said.
—Caroline Petrow-Cohen, Los Angeles Times, 4 May 2024
See All Example Sentences for postmortem examination
Recent Examples of Synonyms for postmortem examination
autopsy
Noun
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Lawyers representing Good's family released preliminary results of an independent autopsy Wednesday showing details consistent with a report from local first responders released last week.—
Arkansas Online,
Arkansas Online,
24 Jan. 2026
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The four bullets Renee Good took from the gun fired by Minnesota ICE officer Jonathan Ross hit her once each in the arm, breast and head, while a fourth grazed her body, her family said in releasing partial results of an independent autopsy on the slain mother of three.—
Theresa Braine,
Mercury News,
23 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Postmortem examination.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/postmortem%20examination. Accessed 31 Jan. 2026.
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