coffin

¹ American  

[kaw-fin, kof-in] / ˈkɔ fɪn, ˈkɒf ɪn /

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.

3. Printing.

   1. the bed of a platen press.

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

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verb (used with object)

1. to put or enclose in or as in a coffin.

Coffin ² American  

[kaw-fin, kof-in] / ˈkɔ fɪn, ˈkɒf ɪn /

noun

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

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

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coffin British  

/ 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

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verb

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

2. engineering another name for flask

Other Word Forms

• coffinless adjective
• uncoffin verb (used with object)

Etymology

Origin of coffin

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

Example Sentences

Though concentrated, it’s situated among newly refreshed spaces containing lavishly ornamented mummy coffins, carved grave stelae, canopic jars, tomb wall reliefs and the preserved body of a woman named Gautseshenu.

From The Wall Street Journal

Footage from the IRGC-affiliated Tasnim news agency, showed hundreds of mourners bowing their heads in front of a group of at least 18 coffins draped in the flag of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

From BBC

Several hundred people also gathered in the chapel car park as her coffin was removed from a horse drawn carriage and taken inside.

From BBC

“It’s just, if you will, another nail in the coffin of us standing in the world.”

From Salon

Switching her skirts around the coffin and trying not to look in it, she settled on the bench and opened the piano.

From Literature

Related Words

• crate
• sarcophagus