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.
-
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
-
has been coatingperfect progressive
Past
-
coatedsimple
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had coatedperfect
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was coatingprogressive
-
were coatingprogressive
-
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:
It might also mean a thick slice of homemade apple Bundt cake under a generous coat of cream cheese icing, eaten with coffee.
From Salon ● Aug. 31, 2026
"I’ve always felt supported from day one and it’s a story that keeps going," she told BFM TV, wearing black sunglasses and a beige trench coat.
From Barron's ● Aug. 28, 2026
When cabinet ministers were appointed in May's first reshuffle, it was heralded in press statements beneath the UK government coat of arms.
From BBC ● Aug. 20, 2026
The garments that they could not find, such as Bessette’s wedding dress, her rehearsal dinner dress and a tan and black ruffle coat from Yamamoto, they re-created using historical images and input from the designers.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 19, 2026
He had his coat on the first morning because he’d been outside already.
From "The Brightwood Code" by Monica Hesse
Gaggles of British tourists with fur coats and spray tans jostled for seating, clutching their outerwear to their chests for space as they scouted for a table to open up.
From Slate ● Aug. 24, 2026
On the Northwest Coast of North America, for instance, some Indigenous communities bred small dogs with woolly coats specifically for their hair.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 10, 2026
"It's been excellent having the coats," said Dawn Prosser, manager of the Swindon night shelter.
From BBC ● Aug. 5, 2026
The weathered thread compartment holds two toy horses with armed riders in red coats.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 28, 2026
Back before it became unfashionable, I used to procure skins and pelts from such animals for coats, purses, and shoes.
From "Not Nothing" by Gayle Forman
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
"This tastes really sweet. It's almost like it's been coated in sugar," said Douyin influencer Liulianzi in a clip liked more than 17,000 times.
From Barron's ● Aug. 30, 2026
The team then introduced a heat treatment that weakened the force holding droplets to the coated surface.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 23, 2026
Henkel's cold seal solution is already available for packaging manufacturers to apply to barrier coated paper.
From BBC ● Jul. 27, 2026
It falls off in glops, leaving me holding a coated fork.
From "Water for Elephants" by Sara Gruen
Paint maker PPG has introduced a fire-resistant coating called Steelguard 951 that can be applied in a fabrication shop before the steel is erected.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 1, 2026
This coating can act as a form of camouflage, making it harder for immune cells to recognize and destroy them.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 1, 2026
The coating encourages more droplets to appear as water vapor condenses while also making it easier for those droplets to leave the surface.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 23, 2026
“What did I get myself into?” he asked, finding kitchen equipment, furniture, clothes, bottles, a family picture, and wooden planks with nails pointing upward coating the floor.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 17, 2026
Mom scratches her nose against her forearm because her hands are turning fish in a bowl of cornmeal, coating both sides before she dips it into hot oil in a frying pan.
From "Piecing Me Together" by Renée Watson
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.
