BODY


Meaning of BODY in English

bod ‧ y S1 W1 /ˈbɒdi $ ˈbɑːdi/ BrE AmE noun ( plural bodies )

[ Language: Old English ; Origin: bodig ]

1 . PEOPLE/ANIMALS [countable] the physical structure of a person or animal:

the human body

My fingers were numb and my whole body ached.

body weight/temperature/size

Your body temperature is higher in the daytime than at night.

For their body size, these birds lay very small eggs.

He needs to overcome a negative body image (=what you think about your own body) .

2 . DEAD PERSON [countable] the dead body of a person:

A dog found the body of a girl in the woods.

3 . GROUP [countable] a group of people who work together to do a particular job or who are together for a particular purpose:

The British Medical Association is the doctors’ professional body.

body of

There were reports of a large body of armed men near the border.

Kaplan served on the governing body of the museum (=the group who control the museum) .

The student body (=all the students in a school or college) numbers 5,000.

The research will be used by government departments and other public bodies (=groups whose work is connected to the government) .

in a body (=as a group, together)

The women moved towards the building in a body.

4 . body of something

a) a large amount or mass of something, especially something that has been collected

body of knowledge/evidence/opinion etc

There is now a considerable body of knowledge of the different stages of childhood.

There is a growing body of evidence that charges are too high.

b) the main, central, or most important part of something:

The arguments are explained in the body of the text.

Leave three blank lines between the date and the body of the letter.

5 . body of water a large area of water such as a lake:

The city was built near a large body of water.

6 . MIDDLE PART [countable] the central part of a person or animal’s body, not including the head, arms, legs, or wings:

Nick had bruises on his face and body.

The bird has a small body and long wings.

7 . VEHICLE [countable] the main structure of a vehicle not including the engine, wheels etc:

Workers at the factory are making steel bodies for cars.

8 . OBJECT [countable] technical an object that is separate from other objects:

Keep the caps on the bottles to prevent foreign bodies entering them (=objects that should not be there) .

⇨ heavenly body at ↑ heavenly (3)

9 . HAIR [uncountable] if your hair has body, it is thick and healthy:

This shampoo will give more body to your hair.

10 . TASTE [uncountable] if food or an alcoholic drink has body, it has a strong ↑ flavour (=taste) :

A small amount of tomato paste will give extra colour and body to the sauce.

11 . full/medium/light-bodied used to describe how much taste an alcoholic drink has, with a full bodied drink having the strongest taste:

a full bodied wine

12 . long/thick etc -bodied having a long, thick etc body:

a slim bodied orange-gold fish

⇨ ↑ able-bodied

13 . keep body and soul together to continue to exist with only just enough food, money etc:

He’s working at the shop to keep body and soul together.

14 . body and soul

a) completely:

She threw herself body and soul into her work.

b) the whole of a person:

They think they own the employees, body and soul.

15 . INSTRUMENT [countable] the wide part of a musical instrument such as a ↑ violin or ↑ guitar , or of a sports ↑ racket (=bat) :

The guitar is 16 inches wide across the body.

16 . CLOTHING [countable] British English a type of tight-fitting shirt worn by women that fastens between their legs SYN body suit American English

⇨ over my dead body at ↑ dead 1 (11)

• • •

COLLOCATIONS

■ adjectives

▪ the human body

There are billions of cells in an adult human body.

▪ the female/male body

his drawings of the female body

▪ the upper/lower body

Slowly raise your upper body into a sitting position.

▪ sb’s whole body

Her whole body froze with fear.

■ body + NOUN

▪ body weight

You have exactly the right body weight for your height.

▪ body temperature

Exercise will raise your body temperature.

▪ body size/shape

differences in body size and shape

▪ body fluids

Replace your body fluids by drinking lots of water.

▪ body fat

Males have less body fat than females.

▪ body language (=the movements and expressions that show what you feel)

Nervousness is usually clearly expressed in body language.

▪ body image (=what you think you look like)

People tend to have their own body image fixed in their minds.

• • •

THESAURUS

▪ body the shape, size, and appearance of someone’s body:

Many women are not happy with their bodies.

|

His clothes emphasized his strong body.

▪ figure a woman’s figure is the shape of her body – used especially when it is attractive:

She has a really nice figure.

|

Freya had an enviably slim figure.

▪ build the size and shape of someone’s body – used in the following phrases:

Police described the man as tall and of medium build.

|

He was of heavy build.

|

She has a very slight build.

▪ physique the size and appearance of someone’s body – used especially about men who look attractive:

He was over 1.8 m tall with a muscular physique.

|

Ben has a very athletic physique.

■ a dead body

▪ body noun [countable] the dead body of a person:

Her body was discovered at the bottom of a cliff.

|

Firefighters found the body of a woman in the house.

▪ corpse noun [countable] the dead body of a person. Corpse is is used when you are thinking about the body as an object rather than a person:

Pathologists examined the corpse.

▪ carcass noun [countable] the dead body of an animal:

a whale carcass

|

The carcasses of the infected animals were burned.

▪ remains noun [plural] parts of a dead person or animal, especially when they died a long time ago:

Police found human remains under the floorboards of the house.

Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English.      Longman - Словарь современного английского языка.