hearse

IPA/hɜːs/

KK[hˈɚs]IPA/hɜːrs/

hearsesingular
hearsesplural

1.nounB1

Definition

A long motor vehicle designed to transport a coffin from the place of a funeral service to the cemetery or crematorium, moving as the lead car in a funeral procession.

Example

A black hearse led the funeral procession through the narrow streets of the old town.

procession context: hearse + funeral procession + lead

Mrs. Chen's family walked behind the hearse as it carried her coffin to the church.

possessive reference: [name]'s family + behind the hearse

Common collocations

black hearse
white hearse
horse-drawn hearse
funeral hearse
hearse driver
hearse procession
hearse doors
behind the hearse
follow the hearse

Synonyms

funeral car
A more general term that can include any vehicle used in a funeral, not exclusively one built for carrying a coffin.
mortuary vehicle
A formal, professional term used by the funeral industry rather than in everyday speech.

Usage Note

The subject or object of a sentence containing 'hearse' is almost always related to funerals — the vehicle itself, the funeral director, or the family of the deceased.

Common Mistakes

The hearse carried the dead body.

The hearse carried the coffin containing the body.

In English, a hearse carries the coffin, not the body directly.

He bought a hearse to pick up his friend from the airport.

He bought a hearse for his funeral home business.

A hearse is only used for funerals and burials; using it in a non-funeral context sounds strange or disrespectful.

hearsepresent simple I / you / we / they
hearses3rd person singular
hearsing-ing form
hearsedpast simple

1.verbtransitive

Definition

To lift and position a coffin or the remains of a dead person onto or inside a hearse before a funeral.

Example

The attendants carefully hearsed the coffin before the family arrived at the chapel.

rare transitive verb: hearse + direct object (coffin)

Workers hearsed the wooden casket from the chapel pew and secured it inside the vehicle.

Grammar Patterns

hearse + object (coffin / casket / remains)

Usage Note

This sense is extremely rare in modern English and appears almost exclusively in historical or poetic writing. Most speakers today would say 'placed the coffin in the hearse' instead.

2.verbtransitive

Definition

To transport a coffin or the remains of a dead person by hearse from one place to another, typically to a funeral location or burial site.

Example

The funeral home hearsed Mr. Tanaka's remains to the cemetery across town.

rare transitive verb with destination: hearse + object + to [place]

A single black vehicle hearsed the soldier's coffin from the airport to the church.

Grammar Patterns

hearse + object + to [place]

Usage Note

Use 'convey by hearse' or 'transport by hearse' instead — the verb 'hearse' in this sense is almost never used in modern everyday English.

3.verbtransitive

Definition

To place a dead person's body in the ground as part of a funeral ceremony; to inter.

Example

The village priest hearsed the old fisherman in the churchyard beside the sea.

archaic usage: hearse = bury

The family hearsed their ancestors in the family plot on the hillside.

Synonyms

bury
The standard modern verb. 'Bury' is used in all registers and contexts.
inter
More formal and less common than 'bury'; often used in legal or formal written contexts.

Antonyms

exhume
To dig up a buried body — the opposite of interring.

Grammar Patterns

hearse + object (deceased person)

Usage Note

This sense is now archaic. In modern English, the standard verb is 'bury' or 'inter'. Encountering 'hearse' used this way is limited to old literary texts or historical accounts.

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

'Hearse' refers specifically to the long vehicle built or adapted to carry a coffin in a funeral procession — it is the most precise and well-known term. 'Funeral car' is a broader and less common term that can refer to any vehicle used by a funeral home, including the family limousine that follows the hearse, so it lacks the specificity of 'hearse'. 'Coffin' is not a vehicle at all but the container that goes inside the hearse — learners sometimes confuse the two because both appear in funeral contexts. For example: 'The hearse carried the coffin to the cemetery' is correct, while saying 'The hearse carried the hearse' or 'The coffin carried the deceased to the cemetery' would mix the two up.

hearse ↗funeral carcoffin ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

Phrases

horse-drawn hearse
funeral hearse
hearse procession
follow the hearse

Prepositions

Etymology

LatinFrenchEnglish

The word 'hearse' entered English from Old French 'herce', which originally meant a harrow — a farming tool with sharp spikes. In medieval times, the same word described a triangular metal frame that held candles during church funeral ceremonies because its shape resembled the farm tool. Over the centuries, the meaning shifted from the candle-holding frame to the entire funeral carriage, and finally to the motor vehicle used today to carry a coffin to its final resting place.

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hearse

hearse — noun

1. A long motor vehicle designed to transport a coffin from the place of a funeral

Usage Note

Common Mistakes

hearse — verb

1. To lift and position a coffin or the remains of a dead person onto or inside a h

Grammar Patterns

Usage Note

2. To transport a coffin or the remains of a dead person by hearse from one place t

Grammar Patterns

Usage Note

3. To place a dead person's body in the ground as part of a funeral ceremony; to in

Grammar Patterns

Usage Note

Synonym discussion

Common collocations

Nouns

Phrases

Prepositions

Etymology

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