bonehouse
nounEtymology From bone + house. Compare German Beinhaus (“ossuary”).
1
A building for holding the remains of the dead.
- Synonyms
- ossuary
bonehouse
nounEtymology From Old English bānhūs (“the body, the chest, breast”, literally “the bone-house”), equivalent to bone + house.
1
Poetic A body.
- […] beyond whatever - a comfort to consider those bones - Or run my hand over elastic frail ribcage, the woman I love, her pulse of desire. What store of affection inside the bonehouse? Tilt of the chin, and how her denim skirt falls to her shoes.1998, Gary Gach, What Book!?: Buddha Poems from Beat to Hiphop:
- A human body is not a house, says our logical mind. But as soon as we say this, the kenning urges us to consider or puzzle over why, after all, a human body in some special, important way is a house, and why moreover it is a 'bonehouse.'1998, Alvin A. Lee, Gold-Hall and Earth-Dragon:
2 more examples
- The skylark is our souls, residing within our bodies (bonehouses).2012, Zack Eswine, Sensing Jesus: Life and Ministry As a Human Being:
- What comes into your mind when you hear the word bonehouse? It sounds like a building ... But they used it to talk about something very different: the human body while still alive. It paints a wonderful picture.2012, David Crystal, The Story of English in 100 Words:
2
Poetic A corpse.
- […] but the poet, having moved through a landscape that is defined by images of barrenness and desolation — trees "lorn of all delicious apple," an empty house given over to "dust that filmed the deadened air," "the bonehouse of a rabbit," […]1990, Peter Stitt, Frank Graziano, James Wright: The Heart of the Light: