box coat

American  

noun

1. an outer coat with a straight, unfitted back.

2. a heavy overcoat worn by coachmen.

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box coat British  

noun

1. a plain short coat that hangs loosely from the shoulders

2. a heavy overcoat, worn formerly by coachmen

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Etymology

Origin of box coat

First recorded in 1815–25

Example Sentences

Father Simon, the coachman, with head bowed and back bent in the pouring rain, was completely covered by his box coat with its triple cape.

From Une Vie, a Piece of String and Other Stories by Maupassant, Guy de

His English box coat doesn't fit him any better than any other box would.

From Europe Revised by Cobb, Irvin S. (Irvin Shrewsbury)

In the morning Mr. Logan wore a doeskin box coat with pearl buttons nearly as large as alarm clocks in two rows on it.

From Brann the Iconoclast — Volume 10 by Brann, William Cowper

"Here waiter! waiter!" with an affectedly delicate and foreign voice, cried one of these youths, enveloped in a brown "Petersham box" coat, and with his hands stuck into his pockets over his hips.

From The Kentuckian in New-York, Volume I (of 2) or, The Adventures of Three Southerns by Caruthers, William Alexander

He was wrapped in an old box coat, part of which had slipped from his shoulder in such a way as to uncover the gold-laced cloak of King Dagobert.

From Four Short Stories By Emile Zola by Zola, Émile