body
♦♦♦ body /b'ɒdi/ (bodies)
1 [N-COUNT]
Your body is all your physical parts, including your head, arms, and legs.
The largest organ in the body is the liver.
2 [N-COUNT]
You can also refer to the main part of your body, except for your arms, head, and legs, as your body.
Lying flat on the floor, twist your body on to one hip and cross your upper leg over your body.
= torso, trunk
3 [N-COUNT]
You can refer to a person's dead body as a body.
Officials said they had found no traces of violence on the body of the politician.
= corpse
4 [N-COUNT] usu with supp
A body is an organized group of people who deal with something officially.
...the Chairman of the policemen's representative body, the Police Federation.
...the main trade union body, COSATU, Congress of South African Trade Unions.
= organization
5 [N-COUNT] N of n
A body of people is a group of people who are together or who are connected in some way.
...that large body of people which teaches other people how to teach.
= group
6 [N-SING] the N of n
The body of something such as a building or a document is the main part of it or the largest part of it.
The main body of the church had been turned into a massive television studio...
= bulk
7 [N-COUNT] usu with supp
The body of a car or aeroplane is the main part of it, not including its engine, wheels, or wings.
The only shade was under the body of the plane.
= shell
8 [N-COUNT] N of n
A body of water is a large area of water, such as a lake or a sea.
It is probably the most polluted body of water in the world.
9 [N-COUNT] N of n
A body of information is a large amount of it.
An increasing body of evidence suggests that all of us have cancer cells in our bodies at times during our lives.
= quantity
10 [N-UNCOUNT]
If you say that an alcoholic drink has body, you mean that it has a full and strong flavour.
...a dry wine with good body.
11
see also foreign body, heavenly bodybody ar|mour
in AM, use body armor
[N-UNCOUNT]
Body armour is special protective clothing which people such as soldiers and police officers sometimes wear when they are in danger of being attacked with guns or other weapons.body bag (body bags)
[N-COUNT]
A body bag is a specially designed large plastic bag which is used to carry a dead body away, for example when someone has been killed in a battle or an accident.
...the prospect of young soldiers coming home in body bags.body blow (body blows)
also body-blow
[N-COUNT]
A body blow is something that causes great disappointment and difficulty to someone who is trying to achieve something.
His resignation was a body blow to the team.
= setbackbody clock (body clocks)
[N-COUNT] usu sing
Your body clock is the internal biological mechanism which causes your body to automatically behave in particular ways at particular times of the day.
Jet lag is caused because the body clock does not readjust immediately to the time change.body lan|guage
also body-language
[N-UNCOUNT]
Your body language is the way in which you show your feelings or thoughts to other people by means of the position or movements of your body, rather than with words.body mass in|dex
[N-SING]
A person's body mass index is a measurement that represents the relationship between their weight and their height. (MEDICAL)
...those with a body mass index of 30 and over.body odour
in AM, use body odor
[N-UNCOUNT]
Body odour is an unpleasant smell caused by sweat on a person's body.
= B.O.body poli|tic
[N-SING] usu the N
The body politic is all the people of a nation when they are considered as a complete political group. (FORMAL)
...the king was the head of the body politic.body search (body searches body searching body searched)
also body-search
[VERB] be V-ed, also V n
If a person is body searched, someone such as a police officer searches them while they remain clothed. Compare strip-search.
Foreign journalists were body-searched by airport police.
[N-COUNT]
Body search is also a noun.
Fans may undergo body searches by security guards.body stock|ing (body stockings)
[N-COUNT]
A body stocking is a piece of clothing that covers the whole of someone's body and fits tightly. Body stockings are often worn by dancers.for|eign body (foreign bodies)
[N-COUNT]
A foreign body is an object that has come into something else, usually by accident, and should not be in it. (FORMAL)
...a foreign body in the eye.heav|en|ly body (heavenly bodies)
[N-COUNT]
A heavenly body is a planet, star, moon, or other natural object in space.
1 [N-COUNT]
Your body is all your physical parts, including your head, arms, and legs.
The largest organ in the body is the liver.
2 [N-COUNT]
You can also refer to the main part of your body, except for your arms, head, and legs, as your body.
Lying flat on the floor, twist your body on to one hip and cross your upper leg over your body.
= torso, trunk
3 [N-COUNT]
You can refer to a person's dead body as a body.
Officials said they had found no traces of violence on the body of the politician.
= corpse
4 [N-COUNT] usu with supp
A body is an organized group of people who deal with something officially.
...the Chairman of the policemen's representative body, the Police Federation.
...the main trade union body, COSATU, Congress of South African Trade Unions.
= organization
5 [N-COUNT] N of n
A body of people is a group of people who are together or who are connected in some way.
...that large body of people which teaches other people how to teach.
= group
6 [N-SING] the N of n
The body of something such as a building or a document is the main part of it or the largest part of it.
The main body of the church had been turned into a massive television studio...
= bulk
7 [N-COUNT] usu with supp
The body of a car or aeroplane is the main part of it, not including its engine, wheels, or wings.
The only shade was under the body of the plane.
= shell
8 [N-COUNT] N of n
A body of water is a large area of water, such as a lake or a sea.
It is probably the most polluted body of water in the world.
9 [N-COUNT] N of n
A body of information is a large amount of it.
An increasing body of evidence suggests that all of us have cancer cells in our bodies at times during our lives.
= quantity
10 [N-UNCOUNT]
If you say that an alcoholic drink has body, you mean that it has a full and strong flavour.
...a dry wine with good body.
11
see also foreign body, heavenly bodybody ar|mour
in AM, use body armor
[N-UNCOUNT]
Body armour is special protective clothing which people such as soldiers and police officers sometimes wear when they are in danger of being attacked with guns or other weapons.body bag (body bags)
[N-COUNT]
A body bag is a specially designed large plastic bag which is used to carry a dead body away, for example when someone has been killed in a battle or an accident.
...the prospect of young soldiers coming home in body bags.body blow (body blows)
also body-blow
[N-COUNT]
A body blow is something that causes great disappointment and difficulty to someone who is trying to achieve something.
His resignation was a body blow to the team.
= setbackbody clock (body clocks)
[N-COUNT] usu sing
Your body clock is the internal biological mechanism which causes your body to automatically behave in particular ways at particular times of the day.
Jet lag is caused because the body clock does not readjust immediately to the time change.body lan|guage
also body-language
[N-UNCOUNT]
Your body language is the way in which you show your feelings or thoughts to other people by means of the position or movements of your body, rather than with words.body mass in|dex
[N-SING]
A person's body mass index is a measurement that represents the relationship between their weight and their height. (MEDICAL)
...those with a body mass index of 30 and over.body odour
in AM, use body odor
[N-UNCOUNT]
Body odour is an unpleasant smell caused by sweat on a person's body.
= B.O.body poli|tic
[N-SING] usu the N
The body politic is all the people of a nation when they are considered as a complete political group. (FORMAL)
...the king was the head of the body politic.body search (body searches body searching body searched)
also body-search
[VERB] be V-ed, also V n
If a person is body searched, someone such as a police officer searches them while they remain clothed. Compare strip-search.
Foreign journalists were body-searched by airport police.
[N-COUNT]
Body search is also a noun.
Fans may undergo body searches by security guards.body stock|ing (body stockings)
[N-COUNT]
A body stocking is a piece of clothing that covers the whole of someone's body and fits tightly. Body stockings are often worn by dancers.for|eign body (foreign bodies)
[N-COUNT]
A foreign body is an object that has come into something else, usually by accident, and should not be in it. (FORMAL)
...a foreign body in the eye.heav|en|ly body (heavenly bodies)
[N-COUNT]
A heavenly body is a planet, star, moon, or other natural object in space.