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coffin

[ kaw-fin, kof-in ]
/ ˈkɔ fɪn, ˈkɒf ɪn /
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noun
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.
  1. the bed of a platen press.
  2. the wooden frame around the bed of an early wooden press.
verb (used with object)
to put or enclose in or as in a coffin.
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Origin of coffin

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

OTHER WORDS FROM coffin

cof·fin·less, adjectiveun·cof·fin, verb (used with object)

Other definitions for coffin (2 of 2)

Coffin
[ 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.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use coffin in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for coffin

coffin
/ (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 (def. 6)

Word Origin for coffin

C14: from Old French cofin, from Latin cophinus basket; see coffer
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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