Definition of "corporal" []

• Of or relating to the body. See Synonyms at bodily. (adjective)
• A noncommissioned rank in the U.S. Army that is above private first class and below sergeant. (noun)
• A noncommissioned rank in the U.S. Marine Corps that is above lance corporal and below sergeant. (noun)
• One who holds the rank of corporal. (noun)
• Ecclesiastical A white linen cloth on which the consecrated elements are placed during the celebration of the Eucharist. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "Some of them, we had to use what you call corporal punishment."
• "With teachers still raw from the layoffs, she told a business magazine that an unspecified number of the sacked educators "had had sex" with students or had engaged in corporal punishment."
• "When Father arrives at the altar he removes the corporal from the burse and unfolds it on the mensa, placing the chalice which he has carried with him on top of the corporal."