Absent in body, but present in spirit. --1 Cor. v. 3
For of the soul the body form doth take. For soul is
form, and doth the body make. --Spenser.
2. The trunk, or main part, of a person or animal, as
distinguished from the limbs and head; the main, central,
or principal part, as of a tree, army, country, etc.
Who set the body and the limbs Of this great sport
together? --Shak.
The van of the king's army was led by the general; .
. . in the body was the king and the prince.
--Clarendon.
Rivers that run up into the body of Italy.
--Addison.
3. The real, as opposed to the symbolical; the substance, as
opposed to the shadow.
Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body
is of Christ. --Col. ii. 17.
4. A person; a human being; -- frequently in composition; as,
anybody, nobody.
A dry, shrewd kind of a body. --W. Irving.
5. A number of individuals spoken of collectively, usually as
united by some common tie, or as organized for some
purpose; a collective whole or totality; a corporation;
as, a legislative body; a clerical body.
A numerous body led unresistingly to the slaughter.
--Prescott.
6. A number of things or particulars embodied in a system; a
general collection; as, a great body of facts; a body of
laws or of divinity.
7. Any mass or portion of matter; any substance distinct from
others; as, a metallic body; a moving body; an a["e]riform
body. ``A body of cold air.'' --Huxley.
By collision of two bodies, grind The air attrite to
fire. --Milton.
9. That part of a garment covering the body, as distinguished
from the parts covering the limbs.
10. The bed or box of a vehicle, on or in which the load is
placed; as, a wagon body; a cart body.
11. (Print.) The shank of a type, or the depth of the shank
(by which the size is indicated); as, a nonpareil face on
an agate body.
12. (Geom.) A figure that has length, breadth, and thickness;
any solid figure.
13. Consistency; thickness; substance; strength; as, this
color has body; wine of a good body.
Note: Colors bear a body when they are capable of being
ground so fine, and of being mixed so entirely with
oil, as to seem only a very thick oil of the same
color.
{After body} (Naut.), the part of a ship abaft the dead flat.
{Body cavity} (Anat.), the space between the walls of the
body and the inclosed viscera; the c[ae]lum; -- in
mammals, divided by the diaphragm into thoracic and
abdominal cavities.
{Body cloths}, a cloth or blanket for covering horses.
1. Clothing for the body; esp. underclothing.
2. Body cloths for horses. [Obs.] --Addison.
{Body coat}, a gentleman's dress coat.
{Body color} (Paint.), a pigment that has consistency,
thickness, or body, in distinction from a tint or wash.
{Body of a law} (Law), the main and operative part.
{Body louse} (Zo["o]l.), a species of louse ({Pediculus
vestimenti}), which sometimes infests the human body and
clothes. See {Grayback}.
{Body plan} (Shipbuilding), an end elevation, showing the
conbour of the sides of a ship at certain points of her
length.
{Body politic}, the collective body of a nation or state as
politically organized, or as exercising political
functions; also, a corporation. --Wharton.
As to the persons who compose the body politic or
associate themselves, they take collectively the
name of ``people'', or ``nation''. --Bouvier.
{The bodies seven} (Alchemy), the metals corresponding to the
planets. [Obs.]
Sol gold is, and Luna silver we threpe (=call), Mars
yren (=iron), Mercurie quicksilver we clepe,
Saturnus lead, and Jupiter is tin, and Venus coper.
--Chaucer.
{Body snatcher}, one who secretly removes without right or
authority a dead body from a grave, vault, etc.; a
resurrectionist.
{Body snatching} (Law), the unauthorized removal of a dead
body from the grave; usually for the purpose of
dissection.
{To body forth}, to give from or shape to mentally.
Imagination bodies forth The forms of things
unknown. --Shak.