corpse, n. — Green’s Dictionary of Slang

corpse n.

1. (UK gambling) a horse that is listed for a race for the purposes of influencing the betting market; the horse will be withdrawn before the race.

1865

Sporting Gaz. (London) 1 Apr. 5/1: Corpse, or ‘A stiff ’un’—A horse introduced into the betting for market purposes, with no probability of starting.

2. (Aus.) a second-rate racehorse [play on dead one n. (1)].

1904

Sydney Sportsman (Surry Hills, NSW) 16 Nov. 1/2: [T]hey could not have advised Black to be more careful in the future when handling a ‘'corpse,’ so as not to let everyone think he is pulling the block off his mount to stop it from winning.

3. (US) a person.

1935

C. Odets Awake and Sing! I i: bessie: She made an engagement [...] he asked her. moe: Did he? Who? Who’s the corpse?

4. (US campus) a boring person.

1997–2000

Da Bomb 🌐 7: Corpse: A boring person.

SE in slang uses

In compounds

corpse provider (n.) [cynical assessment of their role]

a doctor.

a.1889		in Sporting Times n.p.: ‘Doctor,’ cried the happy mother, as she waltzed into the consulting room of the Brixton corpse-provider [etc.] [B&L].
1890–1904		Farmer & Henley Sl. and Its Analogues.

corpse reviver (n.) [note literal use in 1910 Bulletin (Sydney) 22 Dec. 14/4: On a later occasion an old native found a bottle (quart) of medicine known locally as ‘corpse reviver,’ used in cases of divers’ paralysis. Mistaking it for rum, the old nigger took a long, long drink – ‘enough to kill four Malay seamen,’ said the doctor]

(orig. US) a kind of mixed drink, now esp. a pick-me-up for a hangover.

1865		G.A. Sala My Diary in America II 313: Tom and Jerry, private smiles, corpse revivers [...] with other professed ‘American drinks’.
1872		Donaldsville Chief (LA) 7 Sept. 1/2: The names of the drinks most in vogue [...] yard of flannel, locomotive, corpse reviver [...].
1878		A. Lloyd ‘The American Drinks’ in Comic Songs 13: There’s stone-fence, a rattlesnake, a renovator, locomotive [...] smashes, san-ga-rees, or else a corpse re-vi-ver.
1887		J. Payn Glow-Worm Tales III 24: The immediate effect of the Corpse Reviver was to fill us with extraordinary courage.
1890		Dead Bird (Sydney) 12 July 5/4: Boss’s Barometer [...] P.M. 5 o’clock Corpse Reviver.
1896		Regiment 1 Aug. 277/2: I’ve been so ill. It’s all owing to the Ancients. They nearly finished and put an end to ‘yours truly,’ what with their cocktails and corpse revivers.
1902		Bulletin (Sydney) 12 July 17/2: At break of day sick and sorry creatures were seen moving from every direction to the bar for a ‘corpse-reviver’ – and there wasn’t a drop!
1916		El Paso Herald (TX) 8 July 32/7: The elaborate list of American drinks [...] a ‘Corpse Reviver’, a ‘Hot Locomotive’.
1928		A.W. Upfield House of Cain 20: High Balls, and Corpse Revivers look pretty, but I want a drink.
1930		‘Leslie Charteris’ Enter the Saint 31: Stannard roused the white coated barman [...] ‘I want something steep in corpse-revivers.’.
1933		‘William Juniper’ True Drunkard’s Delight.
1941		C.R. Prance Tante Rebella and her Friends (1951) 140: After several ‘corpse-revivers’ and an appetiser for breakfast, he walked in to the dorp.
2006		C. Taggart at www.gumbopages.com 🌐 The Corpse Reviver No. 2 This is a truly amazing cocktail, one of the great examples of cocktail alchemy [...] As I write this, the day after the morning after, my corpse is feeling rather revived indeed.