body

noun (plural bodies)

• 1the physical structure, including the bones, flesh, and organs, of a person or an animal:it’s important to keep your body in good condition
• the trunk apart from the head and the limbs:the blow almost severed his head from his body
• a corpse:they found his body washed up on the beach
• [mass noun] the physical and mortal aspect of a person as opposed to the soul or spirit:we’re together in body and spirit
• informal a person’s body regarded as an object of sexual desire:he was just after her body
• informal, dated a person of a specified type:a motherly body

• 2the main section of a motor vehicle or aircraft:the factory had produced more car bodies than needed the body of the aircraft was filled with smoke

• 3the main or central part of something, especially a building or text:the main body of the house was built in 1625
• the part of an email containing the message, as opposed to information such as the subject and sender:put your name, address, and daytime phone number in the email’s bodyCompare with header (sense 4).

• 4a large amount or collection of something:a rich body of Canadian folklore large bodies of seawater
• an organized group of people with a common purpose or function:a regulatory body international bodies of experts

• 5 [often with adjective] technical a material object:the path taken by the falling body

• 6 [mass noun] a full or substantial quality of flavour in wine: best of all, this wine has body and finish
• fullness or thickness of a person’s hair:restructuring formulations help to add body

• 7British a woman’s close-fitting stretch garment for the upper body, fastening at the crotch.

• 8(in pottery) a clay used for making the main part of ceramic ware, as distinct from a glaze.

verb (bodies, bodying, bodied)

• 1 (body something forth) formal give material form to something abstract:he bodied forth the traditional Prussian remedy for all ills

• 2build the bodywork of (a motor vehicle): an era when automobiles were bodied over wooden frames