hearse

Noun

a vehicle for carrying a coffin to a church or a cemetery; formerly drawn by horses but now usually a motor vehicle
A framework of wood or metal placed over the coffin or tomb of a deceased person, and covered with a pall; also, a temporary canopy bearing wax lights and set up in a church, under which the coffin was placed during the funeral ceremonies.
A grave, coffin, tomb, or sepulchral monument.
A bier or handbarrow for conveying the dead to the grave.
A carriage or vehicle specially adapted or used for transporting a dead person to the place of funeral or to the grave.
Alternative form of hearst (“A hind (female deer) in the second or third year of her age”).

Verb

To enclose in a hearse; to entomb.
HEARSED, HEARSING, HEARSES to transport in a hearse (a vehicle for conveying corpses)

Origin / Etymology

From Middle English herse, hers, herce, from Old French herce, from Medieval Latin hercia, from Latin herpicem, hirpex; ultimately from Oscan 𐌇𐌉𐌓𐌐𐌖𐌔 (hirpus, “wolf”), a reference to the teeth, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰers- (“stiff, rigid, bristled”). The Oscan term is related to Latin hīrsūtus (“bristly, shaggy”), whence English hirsute. Doublet of herse (“kind of gate”).

Scrabble Score: 9

hearse: valid Scrabble (US) TWL word
hearse: valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
hearse: valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary

Words With Friends Score: 8

hearse is a valid Words With Friends word