coat
Americannoun
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coats
plural
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an outer garment with sleeves, covering at least the upper part of the body.
a new fur coat; a coat for formal wear.
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a natural integument or covering, as the hair, fur, or wool of an animal, the bark of a tree, or the skin of a fruit.
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a layer of anything that covers a surface.
That wall needs another coat of paint.
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a mucous layer covering or lining an organ or connected parts, as on the tongue.
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Archaic. a petticoat or skirt.
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Obsolete.
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a garment indicating profession, class, etc.
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the profession, class, etc., so indicated.
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verb (used with object)
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coats,
present (3rd person singular)
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coated,
past participle, past
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coating
present participle
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to cover with a layer or coating: The furniture was coated with dust.
He coated the wall with paint.
The furniture was coated with dust.
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to cover thickly, especially with a viscous fluid or substance.
Heat the mixture until it coats a spoon. The boy was coated with mud from head to foot.
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to cover or provide with a coat.
noun
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an outdoor garment with sleeves, covering the body from the shoulder to waist, knee, or foot
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any similar garment, esp one forming the top to a suit
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a layer that covers or conceals a surface
a coat of dust
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the hair, wool, or fur of an animal
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short for coat of arms
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in disfavour
verb
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to cover (with) a layer or covering
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(tr) to provide with a coat
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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coatsimple
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coatssimple
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have coatedperfect
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has coatedperfect
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am coatingprogressive
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are coatingprogressive
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is coatingprogressive
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have been coatingperfect progressive
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has been coatingperfect progressive
Past
-
coatedsimple
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had coatedperfect
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was coatingprogressive
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were coatingprogressive
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had been coatingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of coat
First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English cote, from Anglo-French, Old French, from Germanic; compare German Kotze, Old Saxon cott “woolen coat”
Explanation
A coat is a warm piece of clothing you wear when it's cold outside. When the days get short and chilly, it's probably time to start wearing your puffy winter coat. A coat is a necessary garment during the winter in most parts of the world. You can also use the word to mean "layer," like when you paint your house, starting with a coat of primer. Another kind of coat is the one your dog, or any furry animal, has: "I brushed my cat's coat until it shone." Coat comes from the Old French cote, "tunic or overgarment," with its Turkish root kotta, "coarse cloth."
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:
Scientists have developed a way to coat mitochondria, the tiny structures that produce energy inside our cells, with advanced materials without interfering with their function.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 13, 2026
"At the time you think it might be copper or iron washing down through the landscape but it stank and it was sort of oily all over her coat," Donna added.
From BBC ● Oct. 11, 2026
It helps merchant inventory surface when buyers use conversational tools to search for a coat, lipstick or a gift, said Hoffmeister.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 5, 2026
“An oversized entry gallery with a coat closet provides plenty of room for a home office or library overlooking the elegant sunken living room,” the listing adds.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 28, 2026
Caesar’s black coat shimmers, sweeps, and flaps outward and over Midnight’s black hair.
From "Will’s Race for Home" by Jewell Parker Rhodes
"There are two types of bison," Deforges told AFP after a training session with the animals, both two-year-olds with brownish-red coats.
From Barron's ● Oct. 14, 2026
Why are the people inserting the catheter wearing white coats?
From Slate ● Oct. 6, 2026
Others copped to bringing back years-old coats, kid-rejected snacks, used beach chairs and $800 Oriental rugs—all with no issue.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 28, 2026
I covered myself in bits of cardboard, packing tape and foam peanuts and overdid my makeup with several coats of mascara and thick black eyeliner.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 23, 2026
Hospital workers in scrubs and lab coats hurry past me down the hall.
From "Red Flags and Butterflies" by Sheryl Azzam
Additional research will be necessary to establish whether coated mitochondria perform better during transplantation than mitochondria without a coating.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 13, 2026
The monument will be installed in a park in Callao, a nearby port city, after being coated with polyurethane foam and fiberglass, and finished with a marble dust.
From Barron's ● Sep. 26, 2026
Those letters are then locked into a frame called a chase, coated with ink and impressed on sheets of paper.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 4, 2026
Henkel's cold seal solution is already available for packaging manufacturers to apply to barrier coated paper.
From BBC ● Jul. 27, 2026
Mom looked real again, with her long strawberry-blond hair clipped back and her hands coated with dirt.
From "The Science of Breakable Things" by Tae Keller
In February 2026, the research team published related work in the journal Small, describing a medical coating developed from peppermint oil.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 12, 2026
Keurig is rolling out a line of single-serve coffee rounds made of compressed grounds encased in a seaweed-based coating.
From Barron's ● Oct. 10, 2026
The exterior metal cladding of the addition features a luminescent pink paint coating called Pink Kandi.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 6, 2026
Hearn was arrested in June after he said he reached into the water to touch a piece of the coating that had already detached from the bottom of the reflecting pool.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 1, 2026
A thick coating of snow lay on the ice, and this we could drink.
From "Black Star, Bright Dawn" by Scott O'Dell
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
