If a dead person's body is exhumed, it is taken out of the ground where it is buried, especially so that it can be examined in order to find out how the person died. His remains have been exhumed from a cemetery in Queen's, New York City. + exhumation exhumations ex·hu·ma·tion Detectives ordered the exhumation when his wife said she believed he had been killed. to remove a dead body from the ground, especially in order to check the cause of death = dig up (exhumer, from exhumare, from humus )