Body Count Definition & Meaning

Definition

Etymology

Examples

Related Words

Synonyms body count American

noun

1. the number of soldiers killed in a specific period or in a particular military action.

   The daily body count increased as the war went on.

Etymology

Origin of body count

First recorded in 1965–70

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Safety regulators and investigators are alarmed by the mounting body count associated with what is believed to be a relatively small number of air bags with DTN parts, people familiar with the situation said.

From The Wall Street Journal

Americans dislike it when police have to meet parking-ticket quotas, much less body counts for arrests.

From The Wall Street Journal

“Influencers,” like its predecessor, was written and directed by the Canadian Kurtis David Harder, whose cleverness is as abundant as the body count.

From The Wall Street Journal

That the United States once again is reeling from familiar but alarming headlines and body counts should not be a surprise by now.

From Salon

Given its overabundance of empty shock humor, the movie seems afraid to be about much of anything except its toy monkey’s prankish body count.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• census

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.