gravedigger

[ greyv-dig-er ]

noun

1. a person whose occupation is digging graves.
2. burying beetle.

Word History and Origins

Origin of gravedigger¹

First recorded in 1585–95; grave ¹ + digger

Example Sentences

I said good-bye to the widow’s unmarked stone, where she was buried after she died, and where I stayed until the gravediggers found me and carried me to the temple.

From Literature

The gravediggers marking out the individual spaces where exhumed corpses will be buried.

From BBC

"A gravedigger had to come over and use water from his lunch to clean the gravestone before we could rebury him."

From BBC

Later, with help from a local gravedigger, she spent years cutting the grass, placing flowers on the graves and keeping the cemetery tidy.

From BBC

There weren’t enough gravediggers to bury the hundreds dying each week.

From Literature