Meaning & use
a casket
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Meanings
nouncountableAmerican
a strong box, usually made of wood or metal, in which a dead person is buried or cremated
Grammar: Countable: use a casket, the casket, or caskets; the article an is not part of the word.
Patterns
- a casket for someone
- in a casket
- a closed casket
The family chose a simple wooden casket for the funeral.
At the service, the casket was covered with white flowers.
She was buried in a casket that her grandfather had made.
nouncountableliterary
a small decorated box for keeping jewelry or other valuable small objects
Grammar: Countable; often used with of: a casket of jewels.
Patterns
- a casket of something
- a jewel casket
Inside the old chest they found a casket of silver rings.
She kept her mother's letters in a small wooden casket.
Word forms
| plural | caskets |
|---|
Common combinations
- a closed casket
- Because of the accident, the family asked for a closed casket.
- a casket of jewels
- The queen was given a casket of jewels as a gift.
- lower the casket
- The men slowly lowered the casket into the ground.
- a wooden casket
- They bought a plain wooden casket to keep the cost down.
Synonyms and how they differ
Word family
- cask noun
- A large wooden barrel for liquids such as wine; related in spelling but not in meaning.
Commonly confused: a casket or cask? a casket or basket?
a casket vs cask
A cask is a barrel for wine or beer, while a casket is a box for a dead body or for small valuables.
a casket vs basket
A basket is an open container made of woven material; a casket is a closed, solid box.
Practice
The funeral director asked the family whether they wanted a wooden or metal ______.
Choose one answer.
Casket is the box for a dead body, which is what a funeral director supplies. Cask is a barrel for liquids, basket is an open woven container, and packet is a small paper or plastic container.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “a casket”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.