POST-MORTEM

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does post-mortem mean? 

• POST-MORTEM (noun)
  The noun POST-MORTEM has 2 senses:

1. discussion of an event after it has occurred

2. an examination and dissection of a dead body to determine cause of death or the changes produced by disease

  Familiarity information: POST-MORTEM used as a noun is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• POST-MORTEM (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Discussion of an event after it has occurred

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Synonyms:

post-mortem; postmortem

Hypernyms ("post-mortem" is a kind of...):

discussion; give-and-take; word (an exchange of views on some topic)

Derivation:

postmortal (occurring or done after death)

Sense 2

Meaning:

An examination and dissection of a dead body to determine cause of death or the changes produced by disease

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

autopsy; necropsy; PM; post-mortem; post-mortem examination; postmortem; postmortem examination

Hypernyms ("post-mortem" is a kind of...):

examination; scrutiny (the act of examining something closely (as for mistakes))

 Context examples 

The researchers obtained synovial fluid from consenting osteoarthritis patients at Addenbrooke’s Hospital and from post-mortem donors with no known joint disease.

(Joint lubricating fluid plays key role in osteoarthritic pain, University of Cambridge)

The scientists tracked the mice’s metabolic health through their lifespans until their natural deaths and examined them post-mortem.

(Longer daily fasting times improve health and longevity, National Institutes of Health)

To examine the detection ability of NM-MRI, the researchers compared NM-MRI measurements of neuromelanin to chemical measurements of neuromelanin in post-mortem brain tissue.

(Neuromelanin-sensitive MRI identified as a potential biomarker for psychosis, National Institutes of Health)

And if there is no necessity for a post-mortem and nothing to gain by it—no good to her, to us, to science, to human knowledge—why do it?

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

They analyzed three groups of BLSA participants: those with Alzheimer’s symptoms during life and with confirmed Alzheimer’s disease pathology (beta-amyloid protein plaques and neurofibrillary tangles) in the brain at death; healthy controls; and individuals without symptoms during life but with significant levels of Alzheimer’s pathology found in the brain post-mortem.

(Higher brain glucose levels may mean more severe Alzheimer’s, National Institutes of Health)

Analysis of large data sets from post-mortem brain samples of people with and without Alzheimer’s disease has revealed new evidence that viral species, particularly herpesviruses, may have a role in Alzheimer’s disease biology.

(Viruses may play a role in Alzheimer’s disease, National Institutes of Health)

I was undressing in my own room, when, with a premonitory tap at the door, he entered, and at once began to speak:—To-morrow I want you to bring me, before night, a set of post-mortem knives.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)