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.
Printing.
the bed of a platen press.
the wooden frame around the bed of an early wooden press.
Levi, 1798–1877, U.S. abolitionist leader.
Robert P(eter) Tristram, 1892–1955, U.S. poet, essayist, and biographer.
a box in which a corpse is buried or cremated
the part of a horse's foot that contains the coffin bone
(tr) to place in or as in a coffin
engineering another name for flask
1300–50; Middle English cofin < Old North French < Latin cophinus < Greek kóphinos a kind of basket
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."
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
He took his mother's coffin to government offices and released the song Coffin for Head of State, turning grief into protest.
From BBC • Jan. 29, 2026
But like many economists, Coffin is expecting the October estimates to be less reliable.
From Barron's • Nov. 13, 2025
“CPI data are different because they’re usually collected at the time by BLS field workers. In October and early November, those prices simply weren’t collected,” says Sam Coffin, economist with Morgan Stanley.
From Barron's • Nov. 13, 2025
Over the years of Coffin Creek’s various incarnations, a number of ancillary attractions complemented the mazes: a magic show, horror merchandise vendors and food stands.
From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 31, 2025
Coffin image from a newspaper bears the initials of Crispus Attucks, killed in the “Boston Massacre.”
From "George Washington, Spymaster" by Thomas B. Allen
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.
