any body

pronoun

Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see any, body.

Meanings

pronoun
  1. obsoleteObsolete form of anybody.

    “I ſhall be quite au deſeſpoir if I derange any body.”

    1782, [Frances Burney], “A Man of Business”, in Cecilia, or Memoirs of an Heiress. […], volume III, London: […] T[homas] Payne and Son […], and T[homas] Cadell […], →OCLC, book V, page 154
    2 more examples

    As such, however, they were treated by her with quiet civility; and by her husband with as much kindness as he could feel towards any body beyond himself, his wife, and their child.

    1811, [Jane Austen], chapter II, in Sense and Sensibility […], volume I, London: […] C[harles] Roworth, […], and published by T[homas] Egerton, […], →OCLC, page 13

    Well, I must say, it is a comfort to have any body like you about one, Helen, for Georgiana […] is really over head and ears in love with that sailor […]

    1842, [anonymous collaborator of Letitia Elizabeth Landon], chapter LXII, in Lady Anne Granard; or, Keeping up Appearances. […], volume III, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, pages 164–165
  2. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see any, body.

    “He is dead. I mean—he was. Wasn’t he?” / Phyllis said, “There never was any body found, and though the police claim to have questioned a lot of people involved in drugs around here and in Philadelphia, no one seems to know anything definite.[…]”

    1997, Rosamond Smith [pseudonym; Joyce Carol Oates], Double Delight, New York, N.Y.: Dutton, →ISBN, page 321
    3 more examples

    The belief that the disease is frequently due to the engagement of foreign bodies in the cavity of the organ, is based to a large extent upon purely speculative or imaginary conditions, or erroneous observations. In an exceptionally large experience in the operative treatment of this disease, in but two instances was any body found other than soft fecal masses, which could be construed as being in any sense “foreign.”

    1894, George R[yerson] Fowler, “The Etiology of Appendicitis”, in A Treatise on Appendicitis, Philadelphia, Pa.: J. B. Lippincott Company, page 67

    A typical case is that of Prince Tumanov, whose body, it was announced in many newspapers, had been found floating in the Moika Canal. A few hours later this was denied by the Prince’s family, who added that the Prince was under arrest, so the press identified the dead man as General Demissov. The General having also come to life, we investigated, and could find no trace of any body having been found whatever.

    1919, John Reed, “Plunging Ahead”, in Ten Days That Shook the World, New York, N.Y.: Boni and Liveright, page 121

    Good, Maggie thought. Get on it. Only you can prevent strip-mall fires, Smokey. "But was any body found?" / "We think so. Not much left. You know bones do burn if the temperature gets high enough. That's how they get the ashes to go into those little memorial bottles they give to families to throw to the winds instead of burial."

    2017, Leon Shure, “Littlemayor, a City of Brunswik Mystery”, in The Brunswik Mystery Trilogy, chapter 9, page 291
Cite this entry
APA

any body. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/any%20body

MLA

“any body.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/any%20body. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “any body,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/any%20body.

Source: any body on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.