doff
Americanverb (used with object)
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doffs,
present (3rd person singular)
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doffed,
past participle, past
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doffing
present participle
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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
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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doffsimple
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doffssimple
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have doffedperfect
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has doffedperfect
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am doffingprogressive
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are doffingprogressive
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is doffingprogressive
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have been doffingperfect progressive
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has been doffingperfect progressive
Past
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doffedsimple
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had doffedperfect
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was doffingprogressive
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were doffingprogressive
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had been doffingperfect progressive
Future
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.
See Examples For:
"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
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
And let us doff our currently nonexistent hats to the ferry employee who was NOT about to allow some dude to get away with cutting ahead of us in line.
From Seattle Times ● Jul. 22, 2023
Ms. Stewart’s short chain mail Chanel dress was a fighting mix of armor and crystals, but what really made news was her decision to doff her Christian Louboutin stilettos and walk up the stairs barefoot.
From New York Times ● May 10, 2023
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
When forced by Pozzo to dance, Mr. Thornton merely doffs his bowler hat rhythmically a few times in a funny nod to Bob Fosse.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 29, 2025
In a foundational scene of monotheism, Moses doffs his kicks to approach the burning bush; shoes are, by their pedestrian nature, unfit for holy ground.
From The New Yorker ● Jun. 14, 2019
Osborne doffs his cap in places to the wisecracking dialogue now synonymous with Chandler, but on the whole, he soft-pedals on the one-liners.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 19, 2018
The music nods at Gregorian chant, doffs its cap to Shostakovich, gives a thumbs up to industrial metal, and is uniquely Scott Walker.
From The Guardian ● Nov. 23, 2012
The noon hour arriving, the French shophand doffs his apron and his air of deference.
From Europe Revised by Irvin S. (Irvin Shrewsbury) Cobb
He didn’t have to make the gesture; but it’s a measure of his decency that he doffed his hat to her.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 19, 2025
The Americans beat China on penalties in front of a sellout crowd at the Rose Bowl and Brandi Chastain doffed her jersey in celebration.
From Washington Times ● Aug. 7, 2023
And once Freeman pulled into the base safely, he doffed his helmet and absorbed the scene.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 26, 2023
The football writers doffed their caps to Erling Haaland by honouring him with their award as footballer of the year for his heroic efforts for Manchester City this season.
From BBC ● May 15, 2023
Turning toward the sound, I watched her greet Rosencrantz, who bowed as he doffed his hat, its feather brushing her cheek and making her smile.
From "Ophelia" by Lisa Klein
After doffing their shoes, presumably to protect the plush, vibrantly red carpet that covers the theater’s floor, audience members take seats arranged in concentric circles.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 22, 2026
This is Canada, so the photograph you probably will see this week is one of father and son, simultaneously doffing their caps in the outfield at Olympic Stadium, when Guerrero played for the Montreal Expos.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 23, 2025
“Good to see you, John,” he says, doffing his cap.
From New York Times ● Mar. 22, 2023
Send it out in a blaze, or a mass doffing of the mask.
From Seattle Times ● Jan. 29, 2022
And doffing wasn’t as hard as farm work.
From "Lyddie" by Katherine Paterson
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.
