gravedigger

American  

[greyv-dig-er] / ˈgreɪvˌdɪg ər /

noun

1. a person whose occupation is digging graves.

2. burying beetle.

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Etymology

Origin of gravedigger

First recorded in 1585–95; grave ¹ + digger

Example Sentences

The banter between Hamlet and the gravedigger allows for the kind of witty wordplay that is Izzard’s stand-up stock-in-trade.

From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 25, 2026

At noon on Sunday, Amotz Bazar, the kibbutz gravedigger, pulled up the driveway to the cemetery in Nir Oz.

From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 12, 2025

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

From BBC • Apr. 2, 2024

“We stepped over him somehow,” Vladyslav Minchenko, 44, a volunteer gravedigger, said, shaking his head.

From New York Times • Sep. 3, 2022

Now that I heard his voice, I knew who he was—the first gravedigger in the play.

From "The Shakespeare Stealer" by Gary L. Blackwood