coffin

¹

[ kaw-fin, kof-in ]

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.

verb (used with object)

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

Coffin

²

[ 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.

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

Other Words From

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of coffin¹

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of coffin¹

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

Example Sentences

"It was only my father, my brother-in-law and our pastor who went in and put him in the coffin."

From BBC

“We had to bury her in a closed coffin. She had no chance of surviving.”

From BBC

“And that kind of codified the fact that you're paying your workers only through tips. And then tips became legal. The law had taken them into account in 1938 by excluding restaurant workers. That's sort of the nail in the coffin for ever getting a fair wage.”

From Salon

The dancer drove the nail in the coffin of her future Olympic career, stating she would never compete again.

From Salon

The family of mother-of-five Alice Webb, 33, walked behind her coffin which was pulled by two white horses as they made their way to St Mary's Church, in Kingswood.

From BBC

Related Words

• crate
• sarcophagus