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Definition of "pyre" [pyre]

  • A heap of combustibles for burning a corpse as a funeral rite. (noun)
  • A pile of combustibles. (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.

Use "pyre" in a sentence
  • "A great funeral pyre is built and set ablaze, while his many followers watch."
  • "If our own funeral pyre is to blaze in triumph above the ashes of a ruined Germany, it will be small comfort that we have destroyed their dreams of conquest."
  • "The pyre was a single torch burning to its socket, by whose light I saw his face alone."