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sarcophagus
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As a noun, sarcophagus means a stone coffin, often with its exterior inscribed, or decorated with sculpture. As a verb, it means enclose (a corpse, etc.) in a sarcophagus (noun sense 1).
Meanings of sarcophagus
5 meaningsnoun
A stone coffin, often with its exterior inscribed, or decorated with sculpture.
(informal) The cement and steel structure that encases the destroyed nuclear reactor at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in Chernobyl, Ukraine.
(historical) A type of wine cooler ("a piece of equipment used to keep wine chilled") shaped like a sarcophagus (sense 1).
Older and rare meanings (1)
obsoleteexcept ancient greecehistoricalA kind of limestone used by the Ancient Greeks for coffins, so called because it was thought to consume the flesh of corpses.
verb
To enclose (a corpse, etc.) in a sarcophagus (noun sense 1).
Meanings from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0) and Open English WordNet (CC BY 4.0).