‖ post mortem, post-mortem, advb. phr., a., and n.
[L. post mortem after death.]
A. advb. phr. (post mortem). After death.
| a 1734 North Lives (1826) I. 132 Evidence by offices post mortem, charters, pedigrees. 1845 Budd Dis. Liver 362 Unexpectedly made known by examination, post mortem. 1897 Allbutt's Syst. Med. IV. 222 The fistulas are but rarely found post-mortem. |
B. adj. (post-mortem). Taking place, formed, or done after death. Also transf.
| 1835–6 Todd's Cycl. Anat. I. 806/2 The interval between spasmodic and true post-mortem stiffness. 1837 Penny Cycl. VIII. 46/1 The coroner is empowered..to direct the performance of a post mortem examination. 1873 T. H. Green Introd. Pathol. (ed. 2) 325 Of a dark-red colour, and soft gelatinous consistence, closely resembling the post⁓mortem clot. 1888 Pall Mall G. 24 Apr. 11/1 Any man who held the theory of post-mortem salvation. 1909 Westm. Gaz. 8 June 5/1 M. Chauchard,..who is to sleep his last sleep..in a tomb which has cost nearly {pstlg}4,000, has had many predecessors in post-mortem luxury. 1922 Joyce Ulysses 609 Her brandnew arrival is on her knee, post mortem child. 1962 Gloss. Terms Automatic Data Processing (B.S.I.) 45 Post-mortem routine, a diagnostic routine which may be used to indicate the contents of selected locations after a program has stopped. 1965 in Bessinger & Creed Medieval & Linguistic Stud. 54 What conception of the human spirit and its post mortem future is implied in our inscriptions? 1969 P. B. Jordain Condensed Computer Encycl. 389 Usually, when an unexpected or inexplicable difficulty is encountered, a postmortem dump is taken to record all available information about the failed state of a program: then a postmortem analysis is made to discover the cause of the difficulty. 1979 R. Rendell Means of Evil 68 Doreen Betts's denial had..been..a post-mortem white-washing of her mother's character. |
C. n.
1. a. Short for post-mortem examination.
(In quot. 1900 = post-mortem production.)
| 1850 Scoresby Cheever's Whalem. Adv. iv. (1859) 53 To report a full and accurate, leisurely post-mortem of the subjects we have discussed. 1879 St. George's Hosp. Rep. IX. 195 Two ended fatally; but no post-mortem was obtained. 1900 Westm. Gaz. 27 June 10/1 By this time the genuine Strads are pretty well known—even those post⁓mortems made up out of the débris of the great man's workshop. 1903 Edin. Rev. July 191 Post-mortems show the cause of death. |
b. attrib. Connected with post-mortem examinations, as post-mortem book, post mortem record, post mortem room, post mortem table.
| 1873 T. H. Green Introd. Pathol. (ed. 2) 345 Ascertaining in the post-mortem room the existence of the more marked structural changes. 1880 MacCormac Antisept. Surg. 205 A third..reach the post-mortem table before the disease has contracted adhesions to the surrounding parts. 1897 Allbutt's Syst. Med. II. 861, 60 cases..collected from St. George's Hospital post-mortem books. |
2. transf. A searching (and freq. recriminatory) analysis or discussion of a past event, as an examination or card-game. Cf. inquest n. 3 c.
In quot. 1844, a re-sit examination at Cambridge University.
| 1844 in Farmer & Henley Slang (1902) V. 264/1 I've passed the Post-mortem at last. 1907 R. Dunn Shameless Diary of Explorer ix. 111 Here in camp, we've been holding a post-mortem of the day. 1922 A. E. M. Foster Light Side Auction Bridge xxxvii. 155 The post-mortem fiend simply will not be denied. 1930 A. P. Herbert Water Gipsies viii. 82 ‘I knew,’ he said at the family post mortem in the evening. ‘I knew the colt had the legs of the field, if he only had the luck.’ 1943 K. Tennant Ride on Stranger viii. 82 They drew in to the table and..began a family post mortem of the party. 1960 V. Jenkins Lions Down Under 114 The post-mortem at a team-talk in Timaru was a searching one. 1972 R. Markus Aces & Places 105 The post-mortem centred the blame on East for not ducking the jack of diamonds at trick two. 1974 L. Deighton Spy Story xii. 119 It's all right for you... You won't have to do the post-mortem with these guys. |
Hence post-morˈtemity, the state of death (nonce-wd.); post-ˈmortemizing vbl. n.
| 1851 H. Melville Moby Dick III. ix. 67 At a certain juncture of this post-mortemizing of the whale. 1922 Joyce Ulysses 387 In the nights of prenativity and post⁓mortemity. |