coffin
noun
the box or case in which the body of a dead person is placed for burial; casket.
coffin
1 American
[kaw-fin, kof-in]
/ ˈkɔ fɪn, ˈkɒf ɪn /
noun
-
coffins
plural
-
the box or case in which the body of a dead person is placed for burial; casket.
-
the part of a horse's foot containing the coffin bone.
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Printing.
-
the bed of a platen press.
-
the wooden frame around the bed of an early wooden press.
-
verb (used with object)
Coffin
2
American
[kaw-fin, kof-in]
/ ˈkɔ fɪn, ˈkɒf ɪn /
noun
-
Levi, 1798–1877, U.S. abolitionist leader.
-
Robert P(eter) Tristram, 1892–1955, U.S. poet, essayist, and biographer.
coffin
British
/ ˈkɒfɪn /
noun
-
a box in which a corpse is buried or cremated
-
the part of a horse's foot that contains the coffin bone
verb
-
(tr) to place in or as in a coffin
-
engineering another name for flask
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of coffin
1300–50; Middle English cofin < Old North French < Latin cophinus < Greek kóphinos a kind of basket
Explanation
The long wooden box in which a dead body is kept for burial or cremation is called a coffin. At a graveside funeral, you'll see the coffin lowered into a grave. Most coffins are made of wood, though they can also be steel, fiberglass, or bamboo. A coffin is generally thought of as the same thing as a casket, although some people distinguish between a six-sided coffin and a four-sided casket. The earliest meaning of coffin, from the 14th century, was "box for valuables," from the Latin cophinus, "basket or hamper," and the Greek root kophinos, "a basket."
Vocabulary lists containing coffin
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
There is still a graphic sense of his distress at walking behind her coffin, with Prince Harry mentioning Earl Spencer's opposition.
From BBC ● Sep. 18, 2026
Traveling with a coffin and a caged panther, Claire hasn’t come alone.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 16, 2026
Three men removed the deceased from a body bag, which they tossed aside, before returning the corpse to the coffin.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 8, 2026
He nailed several boards together to create a makeshift coffin for the limb.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 7, 2026
A mosquito net hung around the coffin, and every time a new person came to see him, someone would have to lift netting away.
From "When I Was Puerto Rican" by Esmeralda Santiago
The Minions also have trouble adapting, but Coffin demonstrates that by inserting them into the films of the 1940s.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 6, 2026
As everyone from Chaplin to these guys have long proved: “There is no character falling down that’s not funny,” Coffin said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 6, 2026
Coffin was especially interested in alluding to the work of special effects master Ray Harryhausen, who created the creepy hovering aircraft in 1956’s “Earth vs. the Flying Saucers.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 6, 2026
French animator Pierre Coffin created the Minions and still voices them.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 1, 2026
As they started marching back to the center of town, they passed the Coffin House at the head of Griffins Wharf.
From "Johnny Tremain" by Esther Hoskins Forbes
Gabriel Florenz, founding artistic and executive director of the Brooklyn cultural center Pioneer Works, considers Wolfe’s holdings the most important collection of Ghanaian fantasy coffins in the world.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 22, 2026
The two brothers' coffins, draped in the Iran-backed group's yellow flag, portraits of them in camouflage fatigues fixed to the front, led the procession through the village battered by repeated conflict over nearly three years.
From Barron's ● Sep. 8, 2026
The earliest burials were generally spaced apart from one another, and the bodies were placed inside coffins.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 19, 2026
Tributes on Chinese social media revived Zhu’s most quotable lines, including his vow that he had prepared “100 coffins, 99 for corrupt officials and one for myself.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 18, 2026
Papa carried the coffins in the back of our wagon, and I followed behind with Uncle Henry’s wagon.
From "Life Is So Good" by George Dawson
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
