[car.cass] n [ME carcays, fr. MF carcasse, fr. OF carcois] (14c) 1: a dead body: corpse; esp: the dressed body of a meat animal
2: the living, material, or physical body
3: the decaying or worthless remains of a structure "the ~ of an abandoned automobile"
4: the underlying structure or frame of something (as of a piece of furniture)