Definition of "sexton" [sex•ton]

• An employee or officer of a church who is responsible for the care and upkeep of church property and sometimes for ringing bells and digging graves. (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.

• "The term sexton by definition is a person who looks after a church and digs graves, which failed to accurately describe the job duties."
• "Sigrist, or sexton, is a job shared by a Manage who lives atop Sigrist Poke (the highest elevation on Skene) on the biggest island, Riesig."
• "The sexton was a tall thin man, emaciated by years and by privations; his body was bent habitually by his occupation of grave-digging, and his eye naturally inclined downward to the scene of his labours."