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.
-
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:
No one sleeps in a coffin and everyone seems to go out during the day for work or school.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 8, 2026
Taking the episode full circle, they each laid in a coffin, just as Winkleman had, to await their fate.
From BBC ● Oct. 1, 2026
Earl Spencer describes his opposition to the boys having to walk behind the coffin at their mother's funeral - and he talks of "how tiny, and slight, and bereft, Harry looked".
From BBC ● Sep. 21, 2026
Three men removed the deceased from a body bag, which they tossed aside, before returning the corpse to the coffin.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 8, 2026
“She’s liable to set up in her coffin and take roll.”
From "The Teacher’s Funeral" by Richard Peck
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
The Minions also have trouble adapting, but Coffin demonstrates that by inserting them into the films of the 1940s.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 6, 2026
When the Minions land in Tinseltown, Coffin packs in homages to these pioneers.
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
As they started marching back to the center of town, they passed the Coffin House at the head of Griffins Wharf.
From "Johnny Tremain" by Esther Hoskins Forbes
Wolfe also acquired more than 100 Ghanaian fantasy coffins — figurative sculptures, some stretching 10 to 12 feet long, also known as Fantastic Afterlife Vehicles.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 22, 2026
The earliest burials were generally spaced apart from one another, and the bodies were placed inside coffins.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 19, 2026
Tributes on Chinese social media revived Zhu’s most quotable lines, including his vow that he had prepared “100 coffins, 99 for corrupt officials and one for myself.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 18, 2026
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
Dozens of plain wooden coffins of all sizes lie in a trench surrounded by the small crowd, all that remains of the Jewish community of Kielce, once twenty-five thousand strong.
From "What the Night Sings" by Vesper Stamper
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