coffin

¹

[kaw-fin, kof-in]

noun

1. the box or case in which the body of a dead person is placed for burial; casket.

2. the part of a horse's foot containing the coffin bone.

3. Printing.

   1. the bed of a platen press.

   2. the wooden frame around the bed of an early wooden press.

verb (used with object)

1. to put or enclose in or as in a coffin.

Coffin

²

[kaw-fin, kof-in]

noun

1. Levi, 1798–1877, U.S. abolitionist leader.

2. Robert P(eter) Tristram, 1892–1955, U.S. poet, essayist, and biographer.

coffin

/ ˈkɒfɪn /

noun

1. a box in which a corpse is buried or cremated

2. the part of a horse's foot that contains the coffin bone

verb

1. (tr) to place in or as in a coffin

2. engineering another name for flask

Other Word Forms

• coffinless adjective
• uncoffin verb (used with object)

Word History and Origins

Origin of coffin¹

1300–50; Middle English cofin < Old North French < Latin cophinus < Greek kóphinos a kind of basket

Word History and Origins

Origin of coffin¹

C14: from Old French cofin, from Latin cophinus basket; see _coffer

Example Sentences

Thousands of fans turned out to cheer the coffin on Osbourne's final journey through his home city of Birmingham.

From BBC

Following his death, Ozzy was given an emotional send-off as his coffin took a final journey through his home city, watched on by thousands of fans who chanted his name.

From BBC

Hundreds of mourners walked with coffins draped in colourful cloth into the compound of the Arerti Mariam church while clerics conducted burial rituals.

From BBC

It inspired fierce loyalty among its pilots, yet also acquired the grim nickname "flying coffin" after a series of deadly crashes in its twilight years.

From BBC

Tahmina Watson, a founding attorney at Watson Immigration Law, told the BBC that the ruling could be a "nail in the coffin" for many of her clients that are mostly small businesses and start-ups.

From BBC

Related Words

• crate 
• sarcophagus