rigor mortis

1. 1.

   temporary stiffness of joints and muscular rigidity occurring after death

   Broaderphysical condition
2. 2.

   muscular stiffening that begins 2 to 4 hours after death and lasts for about 4 days

   Broaderstiffening

Questions about rigor mortis

What does rigor mortis mean?

rigor mortis means "temporary stiffness of joints and muscular rigidity occurring after death". That is the primary sense; the word has 2 in total, listed in full on this page.

Is rigor mortis a common word?

rigor mortis is banded "Uncommon" — turns up in careful writing rather than conversation. The band comes from how often the word appears in a large corpus of everyday English, not from an editor's impression.