coffin

[ kaw-fin, kof-in ]
See synonyms for coffin on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. the box or case in which the body of a dead person is placed for burial; casket.

  2. the part of a horse's foot containing the coffin bone.

  1. Printing.

    • the bed of a platen press.

    • the wooden frame around the bed of an early wooden press.

verb (used with object)
  1. to put or enclose in or as in a coffin.

Origin of coffin

1
1300–50; Middle English cofin<Old North French <Latin cophinus<Greek kóphinos a kind of basket

Other words from coffin

  • cof·fin·less, adjective
  • un·cof·fin, verb (used with object)

Other definitions for Coffin (2 of 2)

Coffin
[ kaw-fin, kof-in ]

noun
  1. Levi, 1798–1877, U.S. abolitionist leader.

  2. Robert P(eter) Tristram, 1892–1955, U.S. poet, essayist, and biographer.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use coffin in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for coffin

coffin

/ (ˈkɒfɪn) /


noun
  1. a box in which a corpse is buried or cremated

  2. the part of a horse's foot that contains the coffin bone

verb
  1. (tr) to place in or as in a coffin

  2. engineering another name for flask (def. 6)

Origin of coffin

1
C14: from Old French cofin, from Latin cophinus basket; see coffer

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012