MEANING
A postmortem examination of a body intended to determine the cause of death or investigate disease and injury.
Use it for
A body yielding unexpected internal evidence; investigation after unexplained death; a contradiction between appearance and anatomyUse the examination to reveal evidence, not as a generic word for cutting.
Words that belong together
- perform an autopsy
- autopsy findings
- inconclusive autopsy
On the page
The autopsy found no wound that explained the death.
During the autopsy, the examiner discovered a second foreign object.
An inconclusive autopsy left the family with more questions.
Nearby words
Related words
Word forms
- Base
- autopsy
Usage notes
Primary category: horror. Clinical; unlike vivisection, it concerns a dead body. Not necessarily limited to an external inspection, and not every autopsy finds a certain cause. Also used as a verb for the corresponding process. Noun plural: autopsies. Secondary same-lexeme verb [base, third-person, past, past participle, -ing]: autopsy, autopsies, autopsied, autopsied, autopsying.
Practice this word in a sentenceYour margin notes
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