body

n.; pl. Bodies [ OE. bodi, AS. bodig; akin to OHG. botah. √257. Cf. Bodice. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

1. The material organized substance of an animal, whether living or dead, as distinguished from the spirit, or vital principle; the physical person. [ 1913 Webster ]

Absent in body, but present in spirit. 1 Cor. v. 3 [ 1913 Webster ]

For of the soul the body form doth take.
For soul is form, and doth the body make. Spenser. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. The trunk, or main part, of a person or animal, as distinguished from the limbs and head; the main, central, or principal part, as of a tree, army, country, etc. [ 1913 Webster ]

Who set the body and the limbs
Of this great sport together? Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

The van of the king's army was led by the general; . . . in the body was the king and the prince. Clarendon. [ 1913 Webster ]

Rivers that run up into the body of Italy. Addison. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. The real, as opposed to the symbolical; the substance, as opposed to the shadow. [ 1913 Webster ]

Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ. Col. ii. 17. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. A person; a human being; -- frequently in composition; as, anybody, nobody. [ 1913 Webster ]

A dry, shrewd kind of a body. W. Irving. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. A number of individuals spoken of collectively, usually as united by some common tie, or as organized for some purpose; a collective whole or totality; a corporation; as, a legislative body; a clerical body. [ 1913 Webster ]

A numerous body led unresistingly to the slaughter. Prescott. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. A number of things or particulars embodied in a system; a general collection; as, a great body of facts; a body of laws or of divinity. [ 1913 Webster ]

7. Any mass or portion of matter; any substance distinct from others; as, a metallic body; a moving body; an aëriform body. “A body of cold air.” Huxley. [ 1913 Webster ]

By collision of two bodies, grind
The air attrite to fire. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

8. Amount; quantity; extent. [ 1913 Webster ]

9. That part of a garment covering the body, as distinguished from the parts covering the limbs. [ 1913 Webster ]

10. The bed or box of a vehicle, on or in which the load is placed; as, a wagon body; a cart body. [ 1913 Webster ]

11. (Print.) The shank of a type, or the depth of the shank (by which the size is indicated); as, a nonpareil face on an agate body. [ 1913 Webster ]

12. (Geom.) A figure that has length, breadth, and thickness; any solid figure. [ 1913 Webster ]

13. Consistency; thickness; substance; strength; as, this color has body; wine of a good body. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ Colors bear a body when they are capable of being ground so fine, and of being mixed so entirely with oil, as to seem only a very thick oil of the same color. [ 1913 Webster ]

14. (Aëronautics) The central, longitudinal framework of a flying machine, to which are attached the planes or aërocurves, passenger accommodations, controlling and propelling apparatus, fuel tanks, etc. Also called fuselage. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

After body (Naut.), the part of a ship abaft the dead flat. --
Body cavity (Anat.), the space between the walls of the body and the inclosed viscera; the cælum; -- in mammals, divided by the diaphragm into thoracic and abdominal cavities. --
Body of a church, the nave. --
Body cloth; pl.
Body cloths, a cloth or blanket for covering horses. --
Body clothes. (pl.) 1. Clothing for the body; esp. underclothing. 2. Body cloths for horses. [ Obs. ] Addison. --
Body coat, a gentleman's dress coat. --
Body color (Paint.), a pigment that has consistency, thickness, or body, in distinction from a tint or wash. --
Body of a law (Law), the main and operative part. --
Body louse (Zool.), a species of louse (Pediculus vestimenti), which sometimes infests the human body and clothes. See Grayback. --
Body plan (Shipbuilding), an end elevation, showing the conbour of the sides of a ship at certain points of her length. --
Body politic, the collective body of a nation or state as politically organized, or as exercising political functions; also, a corporation. Wharton. [ 1913 Webster ] As to the persons who compose the body politic or associate themselves, they take collectively the name of “people”, or “nation”. Bouvier. [ 1913 Webster ] --
Body servant, a valet. --
The bodies seven (Alchemy), the metals corresponding to the planets. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ] Sol gold is, and Luna silver we threpe (=call), Mars yren (=iron), Mercurie quicksilver we clepe, Saturnus lead, and Jupiter is tin, and Venus coper. Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ] --
Body snatcher, one who secretly removes without right or authority a dead body from a grave, vault, etc.; a resurrectionist. --
Body snatching (Law), the unauthorized removal of a dead body from the grave; usually for the purpose of dissection. [ 1913 Webster ]