death mask.

A likeness of a dead person’s face made from a cast taken after death.

Use it for

Words that belong together

• a plaster death mask
• preserve a death mask

On the page

The death mask retained an expression no portrait had recorded.

She turned the death mask away from the lamp before opening the journal.

Usage notes

Primary category: horror. Forms: Singular death mask; plural death masks. Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1 only. Use numbered sense fields for all meanings.