rigor mortis
Postmortem muscle contraction
Rigor mortis is the stiffening of muscles that occurs in a body after death.
The process begins within a few hours, peaks around twelve hours, then gradually subsides as decomposition progresses.
Forensic investigators use rigor mortis to help estimate time of death: The body was still in rigor mortis when police arrived.
- cadaverBody for dissection
- stiff as a boardCompletely inflexible, like wood
- corpseDeceased human body
- autopsyMedical examination after death
- stiffeningBecoming less pliable
myosin · actin · remains · putrefaction · rigidification · autolysis · ATP · morgue · body bag · lactic acid · forensic pathology · mortician · funeral · forensic · medical examiner · anaerobic respiration · muscle contraction · lividity
- deathdead, deceased, corpse, demise, death certificate
- mortalitydeath, death knell, deceased, death rate, death acceptance
- forensic pathologyautopsy, coroner, medical examiner, cause of death, pathologist
- forensicsDNA, DNA analysis, fingerprints, forensics, criminalistics
- Latin Termsa priori, ab initio, ad hoc, ad lib, bona fide
- macabrecorpse, corpses, skull, skulls, skeleton
rigor mortisflaccidity
Lack of firmness
limpness · suppleness · pliability · flexibility · relaxation
rigor mortisvoluntary movement
Self-initiated bodily action
vital signs · muscle tone · liveliness · animation · vitality
mortal, rigorous, rigor, mortality, mortuary, rigorously, rigors, rigorousness