From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishexhumeex‧hume /ɪɡˈzjuːm, eksˈhjuːm $ ɪɡˈzuːm, ɪkˈsjuːm/ verb [transitive] formalMHMX to remove a dead body from the ground, especially in order to check the cause of death SYN dig up —exhumation /ˌekshjʊˈmeɪʃən $ ˌekshjʊ-, ˌeɡzjʊ-/ noun [countable, uncountable]→ See Verb table
Examples from the Corpus
exhume• In particular, I was stimulated to exhume a cutting from the Daily Telegraph of 23 October 1980.• They relented when it was explained that the alternative was to exhume the bodies of other relatives.Origin exhume (1400-1500) French exhumer, from Medieval Latin exhumare, from Latin humus “earth” 