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. See flask
   engineering another name for flask

Other Words From

• coffin·less adjective
• un·coffin 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

What you worry about are the combination of stressors, where, because of pollution, something like a big storm might come back and be the final nail in the coffin.

From Popular-Science

Low-income earners have resorted to so-called coffin homes that are essentially just a bed space.

From Fortune

“Actions such as the closure of so many businesses could prove to be the final nail in the coffin for our struggling restaurants and their workers,” she said.

From Washington Post

She punished herself daily by scrolling to a photo she’d taken of JaMarcus in his coffin.

From ProPublica

Erin Palmer, an Advisory Neighborhood Commission representative in Northwest Washington, is famous for throwing an annual Halloween bash with trick coffins, life-size skeletons and an outdoor fire pit billowing fake green smoke.

From Washington Post

The family was taking some private moments for a closing of the coffin in keeping with Chinese ritual.

From The Daily Beast

But on Tuesday, we saw another nail hammered into the already pretty tightly nailed down coffin of the two-state solution.

From The Daily Beast

The report detailed such techniques as "rectal rehydration" and the use of coffin-size confinement boxes.

From The Daily Beast

In addition, several detainees were led to believe they would die in custody, with one told he would leave in a coffin-shaped box.

From The Daily Beast

Well, the dwarfs took pity on him and gave him the coffin, and the prince had it carried to his castle.

From The Daily Beast

Cleopatra's coffin, head of the Theban ram, and other Egyptian curiosities, arrived in England.

From Project Gutenberg

She groaned aloud, and her tears flowed faster: Alessandro was making the baby's coffin.

From Project Gutenberg

By this time the bent figure sitting in the rocking-chair, near the coffin began to show signs of life and whimper a little.

From Project Gutenberg

The corpse was lying in a narrow coffin, upon a low bier, both of which were covered with a white pall.

From Project Gutenberg

The humidity of the earth had rusted the screws, and it was not without some difficulty that the coffin was opened.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• crate
• sarcophagus