break rigor

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English

Verb

break rigor (third-person singular simple present breaks rigor, present participle breaking rigor, simple past broke rigor, past participle broken rigor)

  1. (mortuary technology) To manipulate a corpse in which rigor mortis has set in, (by massage, flexing joints, or brute force) in order to change the position of the body.
    • 1992, Catherine Lewis, Judith Guerin, Not in Single Spies, page 85:
      They must have pushed pretty hard to break rigor in the shoulder.
    • 1997, William Heffernan, Winter's Gold, page 90:
      There are postmortem bruises on the legs and arms that show where pressure was applied to break rigor.
    • 2017, Carla Valentine, Past Mortems: Life and death behind mortuary doors:
      I've heard the loud crack of this myself, although I've never been strong enough actually to break rigor, and I've never had reason to.
    • 2018, Dr Richard Shepherd, Unnatural Causes:
      I needed him to lie flat for the post-mortem and so I had to break rigor.
  2. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see break,‎ rigor.
    • 1977, Parabola - Volume 2, page 90:
      Compassionate mercy breaks rigor; but mercy is so good that sometimes it takes away initiative, and doesn't allow anyone to do anything.