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Corpse
01
the lifeless body of a human being
Grammatical Information
Animacy status
Human
Composition
Simple
Countable
Plural form
corpses
Examples
The detectives found the corpse in the abandoned warehouse.
02
an actor who breaks character by laughing or forgetting their lines, causing the scene to come to a halt
Who is a "corpse"?
A corpse is an actor who disrupts a scene by breaking character, usually due to laughing uncontrollably or forgetting their lines. This interruption often causes the performance to momentarily stop, as the actor struggles to regain composure or recall their lines. The term highlights the difficulty of maintaining the illusion of the performance and can add an element of unpredictability to live theater.
Examples
During the intense drama, one actor suddenly became a corpse, cracking up in the middle of a serious scene.
