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
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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
Eunson said the sheep had a double coat of wool which protected them against the islands' harsh winter weather.
From BBC ● Oct. 1, 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
Under a black coat, the petite and poised Navarrette sits on a stool.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 28, 2026
Allun brushed at his coat, as though removing the dried mud that clung there was all that was important to him.
From "Rowan of Rin" by Emily Rodda
"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
He coats the eggs with glue secreted from his legs and attaches clusters of egg sacs to his own body while they develop.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 25, 2026
At one with Burberry, guests could purchase and customize vintage trench coats.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 18, 2026
She couldn’t imagine him fitting in one of those white coats.
From "Caterpillar Summer" by Gillian McDunn
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
One trend centered on the “chamoy pickle”—a hollowed-out jumbo dill pickle typically filled with spicy chips or sour candy, coated with the Mexican condiment chamoy and wrapped in a Fruit Roll-Up.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 2026
Henkel's cold seal solution is already available for packaging manufacturers to apply to barrier coated paper.
From BBC ● Jul. 27, 2026
She could sit anywhere she wants: by the carousel, in the empty food court, on the bleachers coated in sawdust.
From "The One and Only Ivan" by Katherine Applegate
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
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
The old fear began to pump, coating my insides with heat.
From "Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children" by Ransom Riggs
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.
