doff
Americanverb (used with object)
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to remove or take off, as clothing.
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to remove or tip (the hat), as in greeting.
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to throw off; get rid of.
Doff your stupid ideas and join our side!
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Textiles.
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to strip (carded fiber) from a carding machine.
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to remove (full bobbins, material, etc.) from a textile machine.
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noun
verb
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to take off or lift (one's hat) in salutation
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to remove (clothing)
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of doff
1300–50; Middle English, contraction of do off; cf. don 1
Explanation
Use the verb doff to describe removing something. You probably always doff your cap before the playing of "The Star-Spangled Banner." The word doff and its antonym don date to the mid-14th century. Doff is a contraction of "do (take) off," and don is short for "do (put) on." By 1755, these words were all but obsolete, but they came back into vogue thanks to Sir Walter Scott, author of works like Ivanhoe, Rob Roy, and The Lady of the Lake. The popular Scottish author used them frequently, and he and his readers kept doff and don alive.
Vocabulary lists containing doff
Romeo and Juliet
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The Balcony Scene from "Romeo and Juliet"
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Chains
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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.
"Long before the civil wars, men and boys were expected to doff their hats, indoors or out, whenever they met a superior," he says.
From Science Daily • May 7, 2026
The sellout crowd, which had long been on its feet, continuing cheering, eventually drawing Kershaw back out onto the field to doff his cap in appreciation.
From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 3, 2025
When they arrive, there is a ceremonial greeting, where the Lords doff their black bicorn hats and the Commons representatives acknowledge this by bowing.
From BBC • May 25, 2024
We’re a competitive bunch here, but today we doff our hats to our friends at Axios.
From New York Times • Sep. 19, 2022
No official ever decided that respectable men and women were permitted to doff their hats and gloves in the 1960s or to get pierced and tattooed in the 1990s.
From "The Sense of Style" by Steven Pinker
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.
