coffin

[ kaw-fin, kof-in ]

See synonyms for coffin on Thesaurus.com

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.
- the bed of a platen press.
- 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.

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, adjective
un·cof·fin, verb (used with object)

Other definitions for Coffin (2 of 2)

Coffin

[ kaw-fin, kof-in ]

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

The vampire at the heart of A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night neither sparkles nor sleeps in coffins.
The Punk Behind Iran's Only Vampire Spaghetti Western-Style Love Story | Melissa Leon | November 21, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
To rally the crowd, Bennett sang on a makeshift stage constructed out of dozens of empty coffins.
Tony Bennett’s Nazi Hunting Past Is Just One Reason He’s the Greatest Living American | Asawin Suebsaeng | September 25, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
Pictures of pets, pictures of relatives in coffins, pictures of intimate moments otherwise discarded in the recesses of memory.
These Photographs Would Die Without Him | Dale Eisinger | July 31, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
Bodies come back in flag-shrouded coffins, and the living and maimed are hailed as heroes with purpose.
To Truly Shame Putin, Show Us the Bodies of MH17 | Tim Teeman | July 22, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
He examined the other coffins, each with its crude red crayon label held on with tape.
The Real Monuments Men: The Coronation Chamber of Hitler | Robert Edsel | February 6, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST

You see, I am the city undertaker, and the people are dying here so fast, that I can hardly supply the demand for coffins.
The Book of Anecdotes and Budget of Fun; | Various
Strachan departed highly elated, and repaired to a carpenter shop, where he ordered ten rough coffins made.
The Courier of the Ozarks | Byron A. Dunn
Into this mausoleum the King descended with a long train of courtiers, and ordered the coffins to be unclosed.
The History of England from the Accession of James II. | Thomas Babington Macaulay
When they carried out the coffins, she sprang up gin she wad follow them, but was putten back to bed again.
The Underworld | James C. Welsh
Upon descending it, our guide removed successively the covers of six coffins, and desired us to examine the bodies.
Travels through the South of France and the Interior of Provinces of Provence and Languedoc in the Years 1807 and 1808 | Lt-Col. Pinkney

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)

Origin of 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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