coffin Hear it!

coffin Definition

cof·fin (kôfin, käf-)

noun

  1. the case or box in which a dead body is buried
  2. the horny part of a horse's hoof

Etymology: ME & OFr cofin, basket, coffer < L cophinus < Gr kophinos, a basket

transitive verb

to put into or as if into a coffin
coffin Synonyms

coffin

n.

box, casket, sarcophagus, pine box, catafalque, pall, burial urn, funerary urn, funerary vase, funerary box, mummy case, ossuary; see also grave 1.

coffin Usage Examples

Converse of object

  • drape: How dare he have his coffin draped with a Union Flag at his funeral.
  • cremate: Is more than one coffin cremated at the same time?
  • carry: Campaigners carry a coffin through the streets of Brussels, with the slogan ' Trade Justice, Not Free Trade ' .
  • bury: Drugged, he awakes to find himself buried alive glass coffin with only a gun for company.
  • accompany: In some cities this turned into demonstrations accompanying the coffins of Russian soldiers.

Adjective modifier

  • leaden: He evidently did not know that there was a leaden coffin, or at any rate, had not thought of it.
  • flag-draped: Bush was caught bantering as flag-draped coffins arrived at an air force base in Dover, Delaware - a military mortuary.
  • biodegradable: We will provide advice on the types of coffin, including biodegradable coffins, which can be used.
  • wooden: Bronze Age dead were buried in wooden coffins in mounds called barrows.
  • outer: Model coffin The outer wooden coffin contains an inner cardboard coffin.
  • empty: The empty coffin now resides at the back of the Yogomaia Mosque, a permanent reminder of the lamentable event.

Modifies a noun

  • dodger: Trouble is, what I actually saw was somebody blowing down a stick of wood to a bunch of coffin dodgers.
  • lid: The review should have slammed the coffin lid on nuclear power once for all.
  • bearer: Coffin Bearers Quite often members of a family ask to bear the coffin.
  • nail: Three probable graves were recorded, but only the iron coffin nails survived.
  • plate: The coffin plate bore the inscription ' A British Warrior who fell in the Great War ' .

Noun used with modifier

  • cardboard: Most people buried in woodland sites are laid to rest in cardboard coffins or wicker baskets.
  • stone: Dust of an eight year old in a stone coffin.
  • oak: Bert and I made the very posh oak coffin with all the best trimmings and furniture.
  • iron: Three probable graves were recorded, but only the iron coffin nails survived.
coffin Quotes

Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone, Prevent the dog from barking with a juicy bone, Silence the pianos and with muffled drum Bring out the coffin, let the mourners come.

—Auden,W(ystan) H(ugh)

His father gave him a box of truisms Shaped like a coffin, then his father died; 538 The truisms remained on the mantelpiece.

—MacNeice, (Frederick) Louis

Like the silver plate on a coffin.

—Curran,John Philpot

Do you know how they are going to decide the Shakespeare^Bacon dispute? Theyare going to dig up Shakespeareand dig up Bacon; theyaregoing toget Tree to recite Hamlet to them. And the one who turns in his coffin will be the author of the play.

—Gilbert, Sir W(illiam) S(chwenck)