Bodily means relating to the physical body rather than the mind or spirit. When a doctor examines you for bodily injuries after a fall, she's checking your actual physical self: your bones, muscles, and skin, not your thoughts or feelings.

The word often appears in serious contexts. A police report might describe someone suffering bodily harm, meaning physical injury to their person. Courts use the term bodily when discussing physical evidence or injuries. You might read in a history book about how soldiers faced bodily danger in battle, referring to the real physical risks they confronted.

Bodily can also describe doing something with your whole physical self. If you bodily lift your little brother onto your shoulders, you're using your entire body's strength. When stage crews bodily carry props off the stage during a scene change, they're physically moving them with their hands and arms, not using wheels or machines.

The word emphasizes the physical and concrete, separating body from mind. When someone says “I'm here bodily but my mind is elsewhere,” they mean their physical self is present even though they're distracted. Your bodily health means how your actual body is functioning: whether you're sleeping well, eating enough, getting exercise, and staying free from illness or injury.