From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishurnurn /ɜːn $ ɜːrn/ noun [countable] 1 MXa decorated container, especially one that is used for holding the ashes of a dead body2 DFUa metal container that holds a large amount of tea or coffee
Examples from the Corpus
urn• After this solemn function, the body was placed above a side altar in a crystal urn.• The square funerary monument was found to contain a series of stelae with inscriptions and five urns.• Couches and armchairs as big as beds were surrounded by Graeco-Roman statuary and Oriental urns.• The soup urn had a lonely look.• Does that urn fall over and break later in the film?• He turned the open mouth of the urn toward the light and peered in.• The urn rattled brightly Seashells, he thought, remembering his time as a child at the gulf shore.Origin urn (1300-1400) Latin urna 