Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Rigor \Ri"gor\, n. [L. See Rigor., below.]
Rigidity; stiffness.
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(ed.) A sense of chilliness, with contraction of the skin; a convulsive shuddering or tremor, as in the chill preceding a fever.
Rigor caloris[L., rigor of heat] (Physiol.), a form of rigor mortis induced by heat, as when the muscle of a mammal is heated to about 50[deg] C.
Rigor mortis[L., rigor of death], death stiffening; the rigidity of the muscles that occurs at death and lasts till decomposition sets in. It is due to the formation of myosin by the coagulation of the contents of the individual muscle fibers.
Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
Wiktionary
n. Temporary stiffness of a body's muscles and joints following death.
WordNet
n. temporary stiffness of joints and muscular rigidity occurring after death
muscular stiffening that begins 2 to 4 hours after death and last for about 4 days
Wikipedia
Rigor mortis ( Latin: rigor "stiffness", mortis "of death"), the third stage of death, is one of the recognizable signs of death, caused by chemical changes in the muscles post mortem, which cause the limbs of the corpse to stiffen. Rigor mortis can occur as soon as 4 hours post mortem.
Rigor Mortis is a thrash/ speed metal band that formed in 1983 in the Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas metroplex. Two schoolmates Harden Harrison (drums) and Casey Orr (bass) formed the band when they met Mike Scaccia (guitar). The three young men shared an interest in horror/gore films and very heavy music. With Bruce Corbitt on vocals they created some of the heaviest thrash metal at the time often flirting with death metal. They were also one of the only major thrash bands from Texas and virtually created the underground metal scene there. The band was signed by Capitol Records in 1987.
In 2005, the original lineup reunited and performed at Ozzfest 2008 in Texas. In 2009, Rigor Mortis played in Germany at the Keep It True Festival.
Rigor Mortis recently recorded their first album with the original lineup in 25 years. The album will be called "Slaves To The Grave" and it will be released on October 7, 2014.
Mike Scaccia also played guitar with industrial metal band Ministry, Revolting Cocks, Lard, and others.
Casey Orr also plays bass in the shock rock band GWAR, as the character Beefcake the Mighty. He also played bass for Dallas punk rock band The Hellions. He currently plays for Warbeast.
Harden Harrison also plays drums with the metal bands Speedealer and Mitra.
Bruce Corbitt also sings for the thrash metal band Warbeast (Formerly Texas Metal Alliance). The band is signed by Philip Anselmo's label Housecore Records and their debut album "Krush The Enemy" was released April 27, 2010. Warbeast's next release was a split album with Philip Anselmo's solo material called "War Of The Gargantuas" and it was released Jan 8th, 2013. Warbeast's 2nd full-length album is called "Destroy" and it was released in 2013.
Former Rigor Mortis vocalist/guitarist Doyle Bright now plays guitar in the metal band Hallows Eve.
There was also a Rigor Mortis from New York that evolved into Immolation as well as a Los Angeles punk band named Rigormortis.
Rigor Mortis is featured on the shirt of the creature on the Toxic Holocaust album Evil Never Dies from 2003.
On December 23, 2012, the band's guitarist Mike Scaccia died from a heart attack while performing onstage.
On October 6, 2014 Rigor Mortis will release their final album "Slaves to the Grave". Recorded in February 2012 at MINISTRY's 13th Planet Studios in El Paso. With no label interested in the album, Rigor Mortis successfully "crowd funded" the new album raising $22,838 from fan preorders to self release the final album.
The Remaining members perform Rigor Mortis music under the moniker "Wizards of Gore" in tribute to Mike Scaccia.
Rigor mortis is one of the recognizable signs of death.
It may also refer to:
- Rigor Mortis (film), a 2013 film by Juno Mak
- "Rigor Mortis" (song), a song by Cameo
- Rigor Mortis (band), the thrash metal band
- Rigor Mortis (radio), the BBC Radio 4 comedy series
- De RigueurMortis a 2001 album by Australian band TISM
Rigor Mortis is a BBC Radio 4 black comedy set in the pathology department at an NHS hospital. It centres on the working lives of the pathologists and attendant staff who work in the department.
Rigor Mortis is the debut album by thrash metal band Rigor Mortis released in 1988 through Capitol Records.
'Rigor Mortis ' is a 2013 Hong Kong horror film directed by Juno Mak, and also produced by Takashi Shimizu. The film is a tribute to the Mr. Vampire film series. Many of the former cast are featured in this film: Chin Siu-ho, Anthony Chan, Billy Lau and Richard Ng. Additionally, Chung Fat, who starred in Encounters of the Spooky Kind, is also featured.
Usage examples of "rigor mortis".
But the insinuation that he could hide on all fours under some old coffins in a mortuary, or reinforce the jaws of a corpse with adhesive tape, or stamp footprints into the snow, or wrack his brains to figure out how to interrupt rigor mortis, or shake a dead body like a scarecrow to frighten a constable -- this is all absolutely incompatible with everything I know about him.
I mean, I heard her muttering about rigor mortis and coffins, and knew she was going to open the lid, so I closed my eyes to give her a little spook, but I didn't think….
Time of death was elusive and full of deceit if one wasn't careful to account for all of the variables, but Kim Luong's body temperature, liver mortis, rigor mortis and the condition of her spilled blood weren't consistent with her being dead only two hours.
And laughing like a crazy man, he shouts, 'So rigor mortis could set hit' Then laughs so hard he collapsed on the bloody deck and two elves had to help him to Bis cabin, him hootin' and shoutin' the damn fool punchline all the way.
After the tension of rigor mortis all flesh became slack on the bone: breasts sagged on the ribs, mouth and jaw were loose, eyes flattened under half-open lids, the skin bore a luminous pallor.
Both bodies were hard with rigor mortis, thirty-six hours dead at least in Havana heat.
She remained stiff, as if the rigor mortis had not yet worn off, yet she was alive and could move somewhat.
His cheeks were slashed down to the gums and jawbone and his penis had been cut off, inserted into the deepest of the cuts and hooked around so that the head extended out his mouth, teeth clamped on the foreskin, rigor mortis holding the obscenity intact.
Now Krishnamurthi was carefully breaking the rigor mortis in Rory's upper body and gently straightening him out on the table.
I'm not a doctor, far less a good one, and all I could tell about the man behind the desk was that he had been dead long enough for rigor mortis to set in but not long enough for it to wear off.