morgue

UK: /ˈmɔː^rg/ US: /mɔrg/ ,(môrg)

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2025

morgue /mɔrg/   n. [countable]

1. a place in which dead bodies are kept until they have been identified or disposed of.
2. Journalism a reference file of old clippings, etc., esp. in a newspaper office.

See -mort-.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025

morgue  (môrg), n. 

1. a place in which bodies are kept, esp. the bodies of victims of violence or accidents, pending identification or burial.
2. Journalism a reference file of old clippings, mats, books, etc., in a newspaper office.
3. Journalism the room containing such a reference file.
4. any place, as a room or file, where records, information, or objects are kept for unexpected but possible future use.
5. such records, information, or objects.

• French; name of building in Paris housing unidentified dead bodies
• 1815–25

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

morgue / mɔːɡ/ noun

1. another word for mortuary1
2. a room or file containing clippings, files, etc, used for reference in a newspaper

Etymology: 19th Century: from French la Morgue, a Paris mortuary