entomb

E1N1T1O1M3B3
/ɪnˈtuːm/

verb

To deposit (a corpse) in a tomb.

Scrabble 10

Meanings

verbentomb (third-person singular simple present entombs, present participle entombing, simple past and past participle entombed)

present singular third person entombs · participle present entombing · participle past entombed · past entombed · alternative obsolete intomb

  1. transitiveTo deposit (a corpse) in a tomb.
    1 more example

    At Cihhu (Cihu), near the town of Dasi (Daxi), 30 miles (50 km) southwest of Taipei on Provincial Highway 7, Chiang Kai-shek lies entombed above ground in a granite and marble coffin in one of his former country villas. The gravesite is “temporary,” as before his death Chiang had requested his body be returned to his native province of Zhejiang in mainland China.

    2007, Phil Macdonald, Taiwan, 2nd edition, National Geographic Society, →ISBN, page 122, column 1
  2. figurativelytransitiveTo confine (someone or something) in restrictive surroundings.

    You mocking Birds (quoth ſhe) your tunes intombe / VVithin your hollovv ſvvelling feathered breaſts, / […] / Raliſh your nimble notes to pleaſing eares, / Diſtres likes dũps vvhẽ [dumps when] time is kept vvith teares.

    1594, William Shakespeare, Lucrece (First Quarto), London: […] Richard Field, for Iohn Harrison, […], →OCLC, signature H3, verso
    1 more example

    [A]fter the original Victorian station was demolished and then entombed in concrete in the 1960s, Birmingham New Street became a byword for the worst excesses of the much-loathed Brutalist architecture so widely used to reconstruct inner-city post-war Britain.

    2020 July 29, Paul Stephen, “A new collaboration centred on New Street”, in Rail, page 54

Synonyms & antonyms

verbplace in a grave or tomb

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Old Frenchentomber“deposit in a tomb”
  2. Englishentomb

From Old French entomber (“deposit in a tomb”). Equivalent to en- + tomb.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Chinese Mandarin 埋葬, 入土
  • 埋葬 (máizàng)to deposit (a corpse) in a tomb
  • 入土 (rùtǔ)to deposit (a corpse) in a tomb
Esperanto entombigi
  • entombigito deposit (a corpse) in a tomb
Finnish haudata
  • haudatato deposit (a corpse) in a tomb
French entomber
  • entomberto deposit (a corpse) in a tomb
Indonesian memakamkan
  • memakamkanto deposit (a corpse) in a tomb
Latin tumulō
  • tumulōto deposit (a corpse) in a tomb
Portuguese sepultar
  • sepultarto deposit (a corpse) in a tomb
Russian погреба́ть, погрести́
  • погреба́ть (pogrebátʹ)to deposit (a corpse) in a tomb
  • погрести́ (pogrestí)to deposit (a corpse) in a tomb
  • хорони́ть (xoronítʹ)to deposit (a corpse) in a tomb
  • похорони́ть (poxoronítʹ)to deposit (a corpse) in a tomb
Spanish enterrar
  • enterrarto deposit (a corpse) in a tomb
Swedish begrava
  • begravato deposit (a corpse) in a tomb
Turkish gömmek, defnetmek
  • gömmekto deposit (a corpse) in a tomb
  • defnetmekto deposit (a corpse) in a tomb

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with entomb

All rhymes →
Cite this entry
APA

entomb. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/entomb

MLA

“entomb.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/entomb. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “entomb,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/entomb.

Source: entomb on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.