How to Use rigor mortis in a Sentence

rigor mortis

noun
Definition of rigor mortisnext
  • The body showed signs of rigor mortis, the department said.
    — Andrew Dyer, San Diego Union-Tribune, 19 Dec. 2021
  • The patient was showing signs of rigor mortis by the time staff members were aware that the patient had died.
    — Paul P. Murphy, CNN, 9 Apr. 2020
  • The story, Palmer writes, goes that rigor mortis had already set in, so the woman’s body couldn’t be stretched out for burial.
    — Amy McRary, The Seattle Times, 23 Dec. 2017
  • And her limbs were stiff and would not extend, as if affected by rigor mortis.
    — oregonlive, 25 Sep. 2019
  • No-jime can delay rigor mortis for an hour, standard ikejime for about eight hours and shinkei-jime for up to 24 hours.
    — The Economist, 4 Oct. 2019
  • The process of rigor mortis can be accelerated by the flu.
    — Robert Moore, ProPublica, 8 Dec. 2019
  • Famously known as the stiffening of a corpse, rigor mortis is brought on more by what the body can no longer do rather than something the body is doing.
    — Kyle Hill, Discover Magazine, 12 Apr. 2013
  • The first few stages — algor mortis, livor mortis, and rigor mortis — would still take place, Connor says.
    — Alison Klesman, Discover Magazine, 29 Sep. 2021
  • Amid the war dead lies a horse on its back, presumably in a state of rigor mortis but better resembling a house pet in need of a belly rub.
    — Carolina A. Miranda, Los Angeles Times, 20 Mar. 2023
  • Within a minute or two someone mentioned that rigor mortis had already set in and efforts to revive the man were stopped.
    — Josh Kovner, courant.com, 25 Nov. 2019
  • His arms are locked at 90-degree angles at the elbow from rigor mortis and his stomach is bloated.
    — Kevin Maurer, Rolling Stone, 28 Aug. 2022
  • Near a dirt path, county officials found the animal, cold and stiff from rigor mortis.
    — Maura Judkis, Washington Post, 23 Oct. 2023
  • Then, her body slides off of the wall and rigor mortis rears its ugly head, and Jackie’s ear falls off, traumatizing Shauna.
    — Radhika Menon, ELLE, 23 Mar. 2023
  • Kornfeld told investigators that Prince was still warm to the touch when he was found, but that rigor mortis had begun to set in.
    — Jayme Deerwester, USA TODAY, 20 Apr. 2018
  • While all that admirably gifts the picture with a bright effervescence, its blights dull its impact, leading to a slight case of rigor mortis.
    — Courtney Howard, Variety, 1 Dec. 2022
  • To delay rigor mortis for up to a few days, fish can be deep-frozen immediately after they are caught.
    — Elsbeth Sites, Discover Magazine, 22 Apr. 2014
  • Serna was found dead in the same position, and rigor mortis had already begun to set in when paramedics arrived an hour later, the report said.
    — Jeanine Santucci, USA TODAY, 5 Nov. 2021
  • Fresh is best About six hours after the fish is killed a phenomenon common to all animals, rigor mortis, sets in.
    — Elsbeth Sites, Discover Magazine, 22 Apr. 2014
  • Flight staff once moved a body into a lavatory for safe keeping only to find that the corpse, stiffened by rigor mortis, got stuck behind the bathroom door.
    — Ellen Gamerman, WSJ, 12 May 2021
  • Andrew Kornfeld told investigators that Prince was still warm to the touch when he was found, but that rigor mortis had begun to set in.
    — CBS News, 20 Apr. 2018
  • During a roughly three-hour process, the embalmer washes the body with a disinfectant solution and massages and moves the limbs to loosen the stiffness from rigor mortis.
    — Maggie Jones, New York Times, 19 Dec. 2019
  • Just a shame that the patient already had lapsed into early-onset rigor mortis prior to his arrival at the start of January.
    — BostonGlobe.com, 12 Feb. 2020
  • The police officer initially wrote that Slater's body was in rigor mortis.
    — Nancy Kaffer, Detroit Free Press, 20 May 2021
  • They were probably severed after rigor mortis–a tightening of the tendons in the hours after death–had passed, Gresky argues.
    — Byandrew Curry, science.org, 5 Apr. 2023
  • That black-and-white image (a still or rigor mortis?) was a technological breakthrough.
    — Armond White, National Review, 17 Jan. 2020
  • On Tuesday, in his postmortem for a season that entered rigor mortis five weeks ago, Rangers general manager Jon Daniels laid out in some detail a plan for the future.
    — Evan Grant, Dallas News, 30 Sep. 2020
  • The researchers observed female European common frogs stretching their arms and legs straight from the body, in a way that could appear similar to rigor mortis, Dittrich said.
    — Julia Jacobo, ABC News, 10 Oct. 2023
  • Running a needle threaded with wire down the fish’s spine, Yokota disables the central nervous system, which delays rigor mortis.
    — April Fulton, Los Angeles Magazine, 23 Jan. 2018
  • During rigor mortis calcium ions of the proteins embedded in the muscle fibers are released, causing the muscle fibers to contract and become stiff.
    — Elsbeth Sites, Discover Magazine, 22 Apr. 2014
  • In rigor mortis the inhibition of ATP, the basic unit of energy within a cell, triggers a release of calcium into the muscles.
    — Christopher Crockett, Scientific American, 2 Aug. 2013

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'rigor mortis.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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