coffin
noun
the box or case in which the body of a dead person is placed for burial; casket.
coffin
1 American
[kaw-fin, kof-in]
/ ˈkɔ fɪn, ˈkɒf ɪn /
noun
-
coffins
plural
-
the box or case in which the body of a dead person is placed for burial; casket.
-
the part of a horse's foot containing the coffin bone.
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Printing.
-
the bed of a platen press.
-
the wooden frame around the bed of an early wooden press.
-
verb (used with object)
Coffin
2
American
[kaw-fin, kof-in]
/ ˈkɔ fɪn, ˈkɒf ɪn /
noun
-
Levi, 1798–1877, U.S. abolitionist leader.
-
Robert P(eter) Tristram, 1892–1955, U.S. poet, essayist, and biographer.
coffin
British
/ ˈkɒfɪn /
noun
-
a box in which a corpse is buried or cremated
-
the part of a horse's foot that contains the coffin bone
verb
-
(tr) to place in or as in a coffin
-
engineering another name for flask
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of coffin
1300–50; Middle English cofin < Old North French < Latin cophinus < Greek kóphinos a kind of basket
Explanation
The long wooden box in which a dead body is kept for burial or cremation is called a coffin. At a graveside funeral, you'll see the coffin lowered into a grave. Most coffins are made of wood, though they can also be steel, fiberglass, or bamboo. A coffin is generally thought of as the same thing as a casket, although some people distinguish between a six-sided coffin and a four-sided casket. The earliest meaning of coffin, from the 14th century, was "box for valuables," from the Latin cophinus, "basket or hamper," and the Greek root kophinos, "a basket."
Vocabulary lists containing coffin
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Bonnie Tyler fans lined the streets of a south Wales suburb Saturday to pay their respects as the late Welsh singer's coffin returned to her home there ahead of her funeral.
From Barron's ● Aug. 15, 2026
Or his opening of his dead wife’s coffin, without explanation, more than a year after her death?
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 2026
Sobers' coffin was draped in the flag of Barbados and set off from the Parliament Buildings in Bridgetown on a gun carriage for a formal procession through the nation's capital.
From BBC ● Jul. 29, 2026
Crowds lined the streets to say their goodbyes to the "very special lady" as her coffin travelled through her home town of Milford in Surrey before the service at Guildford Cathedral.
From BBC ● Jul. 28, 2026
“She had the embroidered bundle put into the coffin with him...”
From "When the Sea Turned to Silver" by Grace Lin
When the Minions land in Tinseltown, Coffin packs in homages to these pioneers.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 6, 2026
During this adventure, director Pierre Coffin, who also voices the little guys, also references “King Kong,” “Casablanca” and “Citizen Kane.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 6, 2026
Coffin was especially interested in alluding to the work of special effects master Ray Harryhausen, who created the creepy hovering aircraft in 1956’s “Earth vs. the Flying Saucers.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 6, 2026
Instead, Coffin sketches his idea of a Hollywood creep, the phony let’s-do-lunch schmoozer, with Jeff Bridges voicing a set of twin studio moguls who play bad boss/backhanded boss.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 1, 2026
One piece of the mudslinging was the Coffin Handbill, a famous campaign poster published by Adams supporters that showed rows of coffins and listed Jackson’s “bloody deeds”—his duels, the deaths of militiamen under his command.
From "In the Shadow of Liberty" by Kenneth C. Davis
Dozens of mourners gathered in front of 44 coffins at the emotional service, as police announced that the death toll had risen to 46.
From Barron's ● Aug. 13, 2026
Before them stood 112 coffins containing bones and fragments of victims from the Abu Sharia and al-Hasayna families, two branches of the same Bedouin clan.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 5, 2026
Inside the packed hall, dozens sang mournful songs as the three white coffins stood in the centre of the room, each placed beside a smiling photograph.
From BBC ● Aug. 4, 2026
The soldiers were buried on Sunday in coffins draped in the Indonesian flag during military funerals with gun salutes.
From Barron's ● Apr. 5, 2026
“No coffins, no piled skulls in the corners; I don’t even think we have cobwebs . . . what a disappointment this must be for you,” he continued slyly.
From "Twilight" by Stephenie Meyer
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
