coffin

¹ American  

[kaw-fin, kof-in] / ˈkɔ fɪn, ˈkɒf ɪn /

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.

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verb (used with object)

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

Coffin ² American  

[kaw-fin, kof-in] / ˈkɔ fɪn, ˈkɒf ɪn /

noun

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

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

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coffin British  

/ 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

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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)

Etymology

Origin of coffin

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

Example Sentences

“She’s liable to set up in her coffin and take roll.”

From Literature

I find this really irritating for about 150 reasons, one of which is that in an ever-automated world, it’s another nail in the coffin of human interaction.

From Los Angeles Times

He was buried Monday in a gold-colored coffin in a cemetery near the military base in Zapopan.

From Barron's

The footage ends with a wide shot of mourners bowing their heads in front of a group of at least 18 coffins draped in the flag of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

From BBC

Rivka said she could not hug her mother or throw earth to cover her father's coffin, an important ritual in Judaism.

From BBC

Related Words

• crate
• sarcophagus