尸检 (shī jiǎn) literally means 'corpse examination' — 尸 (shī) means 'corpse' or 'dead body', and 检 (jiǎn) means 'to examine' or 'to inspect'. Together, they form the formal medical and legal term for 'autopsy': a postmortem examination performed to determine cause of death, assess disease, or gather evidence in criminal investigations. It is a clinical and forensic procedure conducted by pathologists or medical examiners.

This term is used almost exclusively in formal, professional, or official contexts — such as hospitals, police reports, news coverage of sudden deaths, or legal proceedings. It carries a serious, somber tone and is not used casually or conversationally. While the characters individually have broader meanings (e.g., 尸 can appear in idioms like 尸位素餐), in this compound, 尸 strictly refers to a human corpse, never an animal or symbolic body.