tombstones

plural of tombstone
as in monuments
a shaped stone laid over or erected near a grave and usually bearing an inscription to identify and preserve the memory of the deceased the historic cemetery's many tombstones marking the graves of children are telling reminders of the harshness of pioneer life

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of tombstones Live oaks draped in Spanish moss hover above Victorian sculptures and timeworn tombstones belonging to famous figures such as John Muir. — Nicole Kliest, Vogue, 4 Nov. 2026 Farther along, there’s an old cemetery next to a white steeple church filled with tombstones dating to colonial times that officials say a young Addams frequented. — ABC News, 29 Oct. 2026 His house is mobbed with skeletons, animatronic displays, tombstones, pumpkins and much more. — Dick Brennan, CBS News, 27 Oct. 2026 Brushing off tombstones is a regular ritual in some cultures, including in Mexico where entire families clean and decorate graves, which are covered with orange marigolds for Day of the Dead. — Kimberlee Kruesi, Fortune, 22 Oct. 2026 Some of these spooky spectacles incorporate lights that dance to music, animatronics that come to life and graveyards full of tombstones. — Patrick Connolly, The Orlando Sentinel, 22 Oct. 2026 Think tombstones, solid skeletons, signs or other decorations that hold their shape and don’t have loose or dangling parts. — Katie Koschalk, Scientific American, 16 Oct. 2026 That’s presumably the idea behind the recipes people have carved into their tombstones, which, yes, is a real thing that happens quite often. — Bon Appétit, Bon Appetit Magazine, 16 Oct. 2026 There was a time when it was commonly used on tombstones, which is not an informal medium. — Judith Martin, Mercury News, 28 Aug. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for tombstones
Noun
  • Alexander’s sentiment was shared by the Mellon Foundation’s leaders, who commissioned a study on the nation’s commemorative works that found, among other things, that 50% of monuments were in honor of people who owned other people.
    — Paula L. Woods, Los Angeles Times, 6 Nov. 2026
  • All three of the sneakrs come in a special box with an illustrated map that adds even more local monuments, as well as insole bearing the same graphic.
    — Ian Servantes, Footwear News, 6 Nov. 2026
Noun
  • Challenge coins, which are much larger than monetary coins, are covered in paint and made with ferrous metals that Murphy said will rust and leave marks on the stones.
    — Jeff Wagner, CBS News, 11 Nov. 2026
  • For 15 minutes our sauna master, Kyan Van Haasteren, a young, blond Dutchman, theatrically waved a towel over scorching sauna stones to waft steam toward me and 32 other guests.
    — Jen Murphy, Condé Nast Traveler, 10 Nov. 2026
Noun
  • But take a walk inside and the ground is laden with faint slabs of rock, gravestones from a centuries-old Indigenous family cemetery that had been obscured by the passage of time and neglect.
    — Jason Motlagh, Rolling Stone, 22 Oct. 2026
  • According to his guilty plea, Horn used black spray paint to deface 12 gravestones.
    — Adam Thompson, CBS News, 20 Oct. 2026
Noun
  • The museum board is currently raising funds for headstones to mark the graves of Strother’s family members.
    — Darcel Rockett, Chicago Tribune, 3 Nov. 2026
  • After days of cleaning graves and decorating headstones with marigolds, the cemetery here in San Andrés Mixquic is filled with the scent of copal incense and burning candles.
    — Rocio Muñoz Ledo, CNN Money, 31 Oct. 2026
Noun
  • When activated, those cells begin clearing away existing amyloid plaques, a process that was associated with reduced plaque buildup and improved cognitive function, the study found.
    — Kelly McGreal, FOXNews.com, 3 Feb. 2026
  • And in mice with more advanced conditions, with unstable plaques that are more likely to rupture, treatment reduced the plaque size by 52%.
    — New Atlas, New Atlas, 26 Aug. 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Tombstones.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/tombstones. Accessed 12 Nov. 2026.

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