Bod·y n.; pl. Bodies
1. The material organized substance of an animal, whether living or dead, as distinguished from the spirit, or vital principle; the physical person.
Absent in body, but present in spirit. --1 Cor. v. 3
For of the soul the body form doth take.
For soul is form, and doth the body make. --Spenser.
2. The trunk, or main part, of a person or animal, as distinguished from the limbs and head; the main, central, or principal part, as of a tree, army, country, etc.
Who set the body and the limbs
Of this great sport together? --Shak.
The van of the king's army was led by the general; . . . in the body was the king and the prince. --Clarendon.
Rivers that run up into the body of Italy. --Addison.
3. The real, as opposed to the symbolical; the substance, as opposed to the shadow.
Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ. --Col. ii. 17.
4. A person; a human being; -- frequently in composition; as, anybody, nobody.
A dry, shrewd kind of a body. --W. Irving.
5. A number of individuals spoken of collectively, usually as united by some common tie, or as organized for some purpose; a collective whole or totality; a corporation; as, a legislative body; a clerical body.
A numerous body led unresistingly to the slaughter. --Prescott.
6. A number of things or particulars embodied in a system; a general collection; as, a great body of facts; a body of laws or of divinity.
7. Any mass or portion of matter; any substance distinct from others; as, a metallic body; a moving body; an aëriform body. “A body of cold air.”
By collision of two bodies, grind
The air attrite to fire. --Milton.
8. Amount; quantity; extent.
9. That part of a garment covering the body, as distinguished from the parts covering the limbs.
10. The bed or box of a vehicle, on or in which the load is placed; as, a wagon body; a cart body.
11. Print. The shank of a type, or the depth of the shank (by which the size is indicated); as, a nonpareil face on an agate body.
12. Geom. A figure that has length, breadth, and thickness; any solid figure.
13. Consistency; thickness; substance; strength; as, this color has body; wine of a good body.
Note: ☞ Colors bear a body when they are capable of being ground so fine, and of being mixed so entirely with oil, as to seem only a very thick oil of the same color.
14. Aëronautics The central, longitudinal framework of a flying machine, to which are attached the planes or aërocurves, passenger accommodations, controlling and propelling apparatus, fuel tanks, etc. Also called fuselage.
After body Naut., the part of a ship abaft the dead flat.
Body cavity Anat., the space between the walls of the body and the inclosed viscera; the cælum; -- in mammals, divided by the diaphragm into thoracic and abdominal cavities.
Body of a church, the nave.
Body cloth; pl. Body cloths, a cloth or blanket for covering horses.
Body clothes. (pl.)
1. Clothing for the body; esp. underclothing. 2. Body cloths for horses. [Obs.] --Addison.
Body coat, a gentleman's dress coat.
Body color Paint., a pigment that has consistency, thickness, or body, in distinction from a tint or wash.
Body of a law Law, the main and operative part.
Body louse Zool., a species of louse (Pediculus vestimenti), which sometimes infests the human body and clothes. See Grayback.
Body plan Shipbuilding, an end elevation, showing the conbour of the sides of a ship at certain points of her length.
Body politic, the collective body of a nation or state as politically organized, or as exercising political functions; also, a corporation. --Wharton.
As to the persons who compose the body politic or associate themselves, they take collectively the name of =\“people”, or “nation”.\= --Bouvier.
Body servant, a valet.
The bodies seven Alchemy, the metals corresponding to the planets. [Obs.]
Sol gold is, and Luna silver we threpe (=call), Mars yren (=iron), Mercurie quicksilver we clepe, Saturnus lead, and Jupiter is tin, and Venus coper. --Chaucer.
Body snatcher, one who secretly removes without right or authority a dead body from a grave, vault, etc.; a resurrectionist.
Body snatching Law, the unauthorized removal of a dead body from the grave; usually for the purpose of dissection.
body servant
n : a valet or personal maid