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the dead body of an animal.
Slang. the body of a human being, whether living or dead.
the body of a slaughtered animal after removal of the offal.
anything from which life and power are gone:
The mining town, now a mere carcass, is a reminder of a past era.
an unfinished framework or skeleton, as of a house or ship.
the body of a furniture piece designed for storage, as a chest of drawers or wardrobe, without the drawers, doors, hardware, etc.
the inner body of a pneumatic tire, resisting by its tensile strength the pressure of the air within the tire, and protected by the tread and other parts.
to erect the framework for (a building, ship, etc.).
Contemporary Examples

It leaves torn-up bodies, bombed-out buildings, coffins, carcasses, and rivers of blood.
HBO’s Brilliant War Doc Rebecca Dana November 9, 2010

Mud-caked cars sat under overpasses for months, like carcasses that refused to rot.
From Katrina to the Clink: Ex New Orleans Mayor Heads to Prison Jason Berry February 12, 2014

Below these five rot the carcasses of Just Go With It, Tower Heist, Something Borrowed, and Arthur, to name a few.
‘Ted’ Is Funny: So What Killed the Movie Comedy? Richard Rushfield July 1, 2012

And with so many pigs dying, farms have been challenged to try to find hygienic ways to dispose of the carcasses.
Aporkalypse Now: Pig-Killing Virus Could Mean the End of Bacon Carrie Arnold August 19, 2014

Some bison die during the violence of the rut in August; there is intense competition by bears for these rare summer carcasses.
What It Takes to Kill a Grizzly Bear Doug Peacock November 22, 2014

Historical Examples

They have been used, I suppose, at some time or other for hanging the carcasses of animals from.
The Lion of Saint Mark G. A. Henty

Sitting on one of the carcasses, a lepero, muffled up, smoked a cigarette.
Nostromo: A Tale of the Seaboard Joseph Conrad

Later they would be slaughtered and their carcasses exposed for sale in the market-place.
Vasco, Our Little Panama Cousin H. Lee M. Pike

My salesman was instructed to inspect the carcasses after they were slaughtered, and to report.
Cattle and Cattle-breeders William M’Combie

Even English subjects declared that he had “left her Majesty little to reign over but carcasses and ashes.”
An Illustrated History of Ireland from AD 400 to 1800 Mary Frances Cusack

noun
the dead body of an animal, esp one that has been slaughtered for food, with the head, limbs, and entrails removed
(informal) generally (facetious or derogatory) a person’s body
the skeleton or framework of a structure
the remains of anything when its life or vitality is gone; shell
n.

late 13c., from Anglo-French carcois, from or influenced by Old French charcois (Modern French carcasse) “trunk of a body, chest, carcass,” and Anglo-Latin carcosium “dead body,” all of uncertain origin. Not used of humans after c.1750, except contemptuously. Italian carcassa probably is a French loan word.

noun

A human body; one’s body, esp if heavy: set his carcass on the couch