Car"cass (kär"kas), n.;
pl. Carcasses (#). [Written also
carcase.] [F. carcasse, fr. It. carcassa,
fr. L. caro flesh + capsa chest, box, case. Cf.
Carnal, Case a sheath.] 1. A
dead body, whether of man or beast; a corpse; now commonly the
dead body of a beast.
He turned to see the carcass of the
lion.
Judges xiv. 8.
This kept thousands in the town whose
carcasses went into the great pits by cartloads.
De Foe.
2. The living body; -- now commonly used
in contempt or ridicule. "To pamper his own
carcass." South.
Lovely her face; was ne'er so fair a creature.
For earthly carcass had a heavenly feature.
Oldham.
3. The abandoned and decaying remains of
some bulky and once comely thing, as a ship; the skeleton, or the
uncovered or unfinished frame, of a thing.
A rotten carcass of a boat.
Shak.
4. (Mil.) A hollow case or shell,
filled with combustibles, to be thrown from a mortar or howitzer,
to set fire to buldings, ships, etc.
A discharge of carcasses and
bombshells.
W. Iving.
