Coffin

¹

[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

²

[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

/ 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

Chanting and singing "free the Amazon", demonstrators in host city Belém have been carrying three giant coffins reading Oil, Coal and Gas flanked by two grim reapers.

Read more on BBC

Israel has confirmed it has received a coffin Hamas says contains the body of another hostage.

Read more on BBC

His triumphant concerts open with the artist emerging from a coffin suspended above the stage.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Sitting a short distance from Wissam's coffin, his father George, railed against the authorities, saying Christians in the valley had been left defenceless.

Read more on BBC

White hats have been a common sight at demonstrations denouncing his death, and a white hat graced Manzo’s coffin at his funeral.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• crate 
• sarcophagus