Sexton
['sekst(ə)n] or ['sɛkstən]
Definition
(noun.) an officer of the church who is in charge of sacred objects.
(noun.) United States poet (1928-1974).
Edited by Barbie--From WordNet
Definition
(n.) An under officer of a church, whose business is to take care of the church building and the vessels, vestments, etc., belonging to the church, to attend on the officiating clergyman, and to perform other duties pertaining to the church, such as to dig graves, ring the bell, etc.
Edited by Jessica
Definition
n. an officer who has charge of a church attends the clergyman digs graves &c.: a burying-beetle.—ns. Sex′ton-bee′tle a coleopterous insect of the genus Necrophorus; Sex′tonship the office of a sexton.
Checked by Jacques
Examples
- I saw them stop near the church and speak to the sexton's wife, who had come from the cottage, and had waited, watching us from a distance. Wilkie Collins. The Woman in White.
- About an old sexton, that the good people down here suppose to have been carried away by goblins. Charles Dickens. The Pickwick Papers.
- I say the best prison is that which is made by the sexton--no dungeon like a church-vault! Walter Scott. Ivanhoe.
- The cloud settled upon the picture, and concealed it from the sexton's view. Charles Dickens. The Pickwick Papers.
- His poor clerk and sexton delighted in him; the noble patron of his living esteemed him highly. Charlotte Bronte. Shirley.
- The other looked towards the stone quarry in which the sexton's cottage was built. Wilkie Collins. The Woman in White.
- No living creature was visible or audible--no bird flew by me, no dog barked from the sexton's cottage. Wilkie Collins. The Woman in White.
- She was ready enough to talk, and almost the first words she said informed me that her husband filled the two offices of clerk and sexton. Wilkie Collins. The Woman in White.
- The goblin leered maliciously at the terrified sexton, and then raising his voice, exclaimed-- '“And who, then, is our fair and lawful prize? Charles Dickens. The Pickwick Papers.
- Father got made a sexton by being umble. Charles Dickens. David Copperfield.
- He was a sexton. Charles Dickens. David Copperfield.
- Newland Archer, at a signal from the sexton, had come out of the vestry and placed himself with his best man on the chancel step of Grace Church. Edith Wharton. The Age of Innocence.
Inputed by Hannibal