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more about embalm
embalm |
3 definitions found From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]: Embalm \Em*balm"\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Embalmed}; p. pr & vb n. {Embalming}.] [F. embaumer; pref. em- (L. in) + baume balm. See {Balm}.] 1. To anoint all over with balm; especially, to preserve from decay by means of balm or other aromatic oils, or spices; to fill or impregnate (a dead body), with aromatics and drugs that it may resist putrefaction. Joseph commanded his servants, the physicians, to embalm ?is father; and the physicians embalmed Israel. --Gem. l. 2. 2. To fill or imbue with sweet odor; to perfume. With fresh dews embalmed the earth. --Milton. 3. To preserve from decay or oblivion as if with balm; to perpetuate in remembrance. Those tears eternal that embalm the dead. --Pope. From WordNet r 1.6 [wn]: embalm v : preserve a dead body From THE DEVIL'S DICTIONARY ((C)1911 Released April 15 1993) [devils]: EMBALM, v.i. To cheat vegetation by locking up the gases upon which it feeds. By embalming their dead and thereby deranging the natural balance between animal and vegetable life, the Egyptians made their once fertile and populous country barren and incapable of supporting more than a meagre crew. The modern metallic burial casket is a step in the same direction, and many a dead man who ought now to be ornamenting his neighbor's lawn as a tree, or enriching his table as a bunch of radishes, is doomed to a long inutility. We shall get him after awhile if we are spared, but in the meantime the violet and rose are languishing for a nibble at his _glutoeus maximus_.
more about embalm