mourning
noun
mourn·ing
| \ ˈmȯr-niŋ
\
\
Definition of mourning
1
: the act of sorrowing
She is still in mourning for her dead husband.
2a
: an outward sign (such as black clothes or an armband) of grief for a person's death
lots of people there, and only one man in full mourning— Arnold Bennett
b
: a period of time during which signs of grief are shown
after a long mourning, resume their ordinary dresses— Henry Reed
Examples of mourning in a Sentence
a day of national mourning
She is still in mourning for her dead husband.
The whole town was in mourning.
a period of deep mourning
His widow was dressed in mourning.
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Recent Examples on the Web
Activists also used a day of Jewish mourning, Tisha B’Av, earlier this month to spotlight the plight of immigrants. — Washington Post, "Jewish groups speaking out against Trump immigration policy," 24 Aug. 2019 Purple is the color of mourning, mourning someone’s death in Korean culture. — Rachel Yang, EW.com, "A Korean-American woman wrestles with family and duty in Justin Chon's Ms. Purple trailer," 25 July 2019 In the absence of broad Canadian validation of the bombing as being worthy of public grief and mourning, creative artists have tried to illuminate the ongoing grief of families forced to live with this profound and unrecognized loss. — Chandrima Chakraborty, Quartz India, "Canada’s indifference to the 1985 Air India bombing is disturbing," 24 June 2019 Although the family was in mourning, Johnson’s country needed him, too. — Sam Tabachnik, The Denver Post, "“Something of a miracle”: Colorado veterans honor D-Day’s 75th anniversary," 6 June 2019 Jews of Pittsburgh watched with horror, and unfortunate familiarity, this weekend as two more shootings left communities in mourning. — Avigail Oren, Time, "We Asked Trump to Recognize That Words Matter. His Refusal to Do So Has Led to More Tragedy," 9 Aug. 2019 Their lives have been torn apart by tragedies and challenges that have left this region of Southwest Ohio reeling and in mourning. — Washington Post, "Devastation on top of devastation: The people of Dayton try to recover, again.," 10 Aug. 2019 Here’s guessing there are far fewer fans in mourning. — John Shea, SFChronicle.com, "You can exhale: Giants don’t trade Madison Bumgarner," 31 July 2019 The baseball community is in mourning after Loek van Mil, the tallest professional player who played for both American and international teams, died over the weekend. — Joelle Goldstein, PEOPLE.com, "MLB Pitcher Loek van Mil, Known as the World's Tallest Professional Baseball Player, Dies at 34," 29 July 2019These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'mourning.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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More Definitions for mourning
mourning
noun
English Language Learners Definition of mourning
: the act of mourning for someone who has died
: great sadness felt because someone has died
: black clothing that is worn to show that you are mourning for someone who has died
See the full definition for mourning in the English Language Learners Dictionary
mourning
noun
mourn·ing
| \ ˈmȯr-niŋ
\
\
Kids Definition of mourning
1
: the act of feeling or expressing sorrow
2
: an outward sign (as black clothes or an arm band) of grief for a person's death
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