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Distinguishing Between Core and Corps and Corpse and Corp
These words are frequently confused despite their very different applications. Core and corps both rhyme with more. Core can be a noun, verb, or adjective, but is most often used as a noun to refer to the central or most important part of something (“the core of the issue,” “the Earth’s core”) or to the usually inedible central part of a fruit (“an apple core”). Corps has several meanings, all of which refer to some kind of group: “the Marine Corps,” “the press corps.” Its plural form is also spelled corps (“two corps of reporters”) but is pronounced just as cores is. Unlike in corps, The “p” in corpse and corp is pronounced. Corpse refers to a dead body, and especially to the dead body of a human. Corp is an abbreviation for “corporation” and “corporal.” Corp, corps, and corpse all trace back to the Latin word corpus, meaning “body.” The origin of core is obscure.
Examples of corpse in a Sentence
Zackery Cuevas, PC Magazine, 11 June 2025
Over time, as the powder solidified and the corpses decomposed, mass graves in the form of random white hills became a fixture of this landscape.
—Amir Ahmadi Arian, The Dial, 10 June 2025
Here, Kate sends her daughter up to her room and shifts into damage-control mode, driving the corpse out to a nearby lake and trusting a couple of cinderblocks to drag it to the (startlingly shallow) bottom.
—Peter Debruge, Variety, 7 June 2025
Dewayne eventually freed the machete from Mischa’s head and tried to dismember her corpse with it.
—Lesley Cosme Torres, People.com, 6 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for corpse
Cite this Entry
“Corpse.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/corpse. Accessed 20 Jun. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
corpse
nounMiddle English corps "human body," from early French corps (same meaning), from Latin corpus "body"
Medical Definition
corpse
noun
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