Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun A heap of combustibles for burning a corpse as a funeral rite.
- noun A pile of combustibles.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun A pile or heap of wood or other combustible materials for burning a dead body; a funeral pile.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun A funeral pile; a combustible heap on which the dead are burned; hence, any pile to be burnt.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun A
funeral pile ; a combustible heap on whichcorpses are burned. - noun Any
heap orpile ofcombustibles .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun wood heaped for burning a dead body as a funeral rite
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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A great funeral pyre is built and set ablaze, while his many followers watch.
“Beowulf: A New Verse Translation” by Seamus Heaney (Norton, 2000) « The BookBanter Blog 2010
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A great funeral pyre is built and set ablaze, while his many followers watch.
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If our own funeral pyre is to blaze in triumph above the ashes of a ruined Germany, it will be small comfort that we have destroyed their dreams of conquest.
The Road to Victory 1939
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The pyre was a single torch burning to its socket, by whose light I saw his face alone.
The Persian Boy Renault, Mary 1972
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The coffin is placed on the pyre, which is lighted by relatives, the occasion being considered one for rejoicing rather than mourning.
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He is actually on the pyre, which is kindled, when the pagan hold Luiserne is stormed by a pirate king, and Vivien is rescued, but sold as a slave.
The Flourishing of Romance and the Rise of Allegory (Periods of European Literature, vol. II) George Saintsbury 1889
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The pyre is the most spectacular of dozens of temporary funeral buildings at the site, a
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(The corpses, followed by the CHILDREN of the slain chieftains, are carried off to the pyre which is kindled within the sight of the persons on the stage.)
The Suppliants 2008
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(The corpses, followed by the CHILDREN of the slain chieftains, are carried off to the pyre which is kindled within the sight of the persons on the stage.)
The Suppliants 2008
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The bedroom was an inferno now, the bed like a kind of pyre in the centre of it.
Strip Jack Rankin, Ian, 1960- 1992
bkerr commented on the word pyre
The doomsday device / ultra weapon / awakening macguffin in "The Stars My Destination" / "Tiger! Tiger!" by Alfred Bester.
April 1, 2007