burial ground

Meanings

1. 1nouncountable

   An area of land where dead people are buried, especially one that is old or not attached to a church.

   Grammar: Countable: use a/an and a plural form — a burial ground, several burial grounds.

   Patterns

   • a burial ground for someone
   • an ancient burial ground

   The hill is an ancient burial ground used by the local tribe.

   Workers found human bones at the burial ground.

   They want to protect the burial ground from building work.

2. 2nouncountabletechnical

   A place where the bodies of dead animals, especially from long ago, have been found.

   Grammar: Countable and often used with the name of the animal before it: a dinosaur burial ground.

   Patterns

   • a dinosaur burial ground
   • a whale burial ground

   The site is a famous dinosaur burial ground.

   Scientists studied the fossil burial ground in the desert.

Word forms

Common combinations

an ancient burial ground

Tourists visit the ancient burial ground every summer.

a sacred burial ground

The tribe considers the valley a sacred burial ground.

be buried in a burial ground

Her grandparents are buried in a small burial ground near the coast.

protect a burial ground

Laws were passed to protect the burial ground.

a burial ground for someone

The field served as a burial ground for soldiers.

Synonyms and how they differ

cemetery

A cemetery is a modern, organized place for graves; a burial ground sounds older or more general.

graveyard

Graveyard is more informal and is often used for land beside a church.

churchyard

A churchyard is specifically the ground around a church, not any burial place.

Word family

bury verb

to put a dead body in the ground

burial noun

the act or ceremony of burying a dead person

Commonly confused: burial ground or burial?

Practice

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Write a sentence using “burial ground”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

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