Definition of "sarcophagus" [sar•coph•a•gus]

• A stone coffin, often inscribed or decorated with sculpture. (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.

• "A Twelfth Dynasty mummified princess, enclosed for eternity in a huge stone sarcophagus, is about to take a long voyage to Cairo as part of a routine museum exchange."
• "You could use some sun and that sarcophagus is starting get a little stuffy."
• "MR. PONEMAN: Our view on the second skin or what is sometimes called the sarcophagus issue -- (laughter) -- I didn't make it up."