'Lich gate' definitions:

Definition of 'Lich gate'

From: GCIDE
  • Lich \Lich\ (l[i^]ch), n. [AS. l[imac]c body. See Like, a.] A dead body; a corpse. [Obs.] [1913 Webster]
  • Lich fowl (Zool.), the European goatsucker; -- called also lich owl.
  • Lich gate, a covered gate through which the corpse was carried to the church or burial place, and where the bier was placed to await the clergyman; a corpse gate. [Prov. Eng.] --Halliwell.
  • Lich wake, the wake, or watching, held over a corpse before burial. [Prov Eng.] --Chaucer.
  • Lich wall, the wall of a churchyard or burying ground.
  • Lich way, the path by which the dead are carried to the grave. [Prov. Eng.] [1913 Webster]

Definition of 'lich gate'

From: GCIDE
  • Corpse \Corpse\ (k[^o]rps), n. [OF. cors (sometimes written corps), F. corps, L. corpus; akin to AS. hrif womb. See Midriff, and cf. Corse, Corselet, Corps, Cuerpo.]
  • 1. A human body in general, whether living or dead; -- sometimes contemptuously. [Obs.] [1913 Webster]
  • Note: Formerly written (after the French form) corps. See Corps, n., 1. [1913 Webster]
  • 2. The dead body of a human being; -- used also Fig. [1913 Webster]
  • He touched the dead corpse of Public Credit, and it sprung upon its feet. --D. Webster. [1913 Webster]
  • Corpse candle. (a) A thick candle formerly used at a lich wake, or the customary watching with a corpse on the night before its interment. (b) A luminous appearance, resembling the flame of a candle, sometimes seen in churchyards and other damp places, superstitiously regarded as portending death.
  • Corpse gate, the gate of a burial place through which the dead are carried, often having a covered porch; -- called also lich gate. [1913 Webster] Corpulence