Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Doff
1.
To put off, as dress; to divest one’s self of; hence, figuratively, to put or thrust away; to rid one's self of.
And made us
doff
our easy robes of peace. Shakespeare
At night, or in the rain,
He dons a surcoat which he
He dons a surcoat which he
doffs
at morn. Emerson.
2.
To strip; to divest; to undress.
Heaven's King, who
doffs
himself our flesh to wear. Crashaw.
Doff
,Verb.
I.
To put off dress; to take off the hat.
2.
A mean, worthless fellow; a wretch.
What is thy servant, which is but a
dog
, that he should do this great thing? 2 Kings viii. 13 (Rev. Ver. )
3.
A fellow; – used humorously or contemptuously;
as, a sly
dog
; a lazy dog
. [Colloq.]
4.
(Astron.)
One of the two constellations, Canis Major and Canis Minor, or the Greater Dog and the Lesser Dog. Canis Major contains the Dog Star (Sirius).
5.
An iron for holding wood in a fireplace; a firedog; an andiron.
6.
(Mech.)
(a)
A grappling iron, with a claw or claws, for fastening into wood or other heavy articles, for the purpose of raising or moving them.
(b)
An iron with fangs fastening a log in a saw pit, or on the carriage of a sawmill.
(c)
A piece in machinery acting as a catch or clutch; especially, the carrier of a lathe, also, an adjustable stop to change motion, as in a machine tool.
☞ Dog is used adjectively or in composition, commonly in the sense of relating to, or characteristic of, a dog. It is also used to denote a male; as, dog fox or g-fox, a male fox; dog otter or dog-otter, dog wolf, etc.; – also to denote a thing of cheap or mean quality; as, dog Latin.
A dead dog
, a thing of no use or value.
1 Sam. xxiv. 14.
– A dog in the manger
, an ugly-natured person who prevents others from enjoying what would be an advantage to them but is none to him.
– Dog ape
(Zool.)
, a male ape.
– Dog cabbage
, or
Dog's cabbage
(Bot.)
, a succulent herb, native to the Mediterranean region (
– Thelygonum Cynocrambe
). Dog cheap
, very cheap. See under
– Cheap
. Dog ear
(Arch.)
, an acroterium.
[Colloq.]
– Dog flea
(Zool.)
, a species of flea (
– Pulex canis
) which infests dogs and cats, and is often troublesome to man. In America it is the common flea. See Flea
, and Aphaniptera
. Dog grass
(Bot.)
, a grass (
– Triticum caninum
) of the same genus as wheat. Dog Latin
, barbarous Latin; as, the dog Latin of pharmacy.
– Dog lichen
(Bot.)
, a kind of lichen (
– Peltigera canina
) growing on earth, rocks, and tree trunks, – a lobed expansion, dingy green above and whitish with fuscous veins beneath. Dog louse
(Zool.)
, a louse that infests the dog, esp.
– Hæmatopinus piliferus
; another species is Trichodectes latus
. Dog power
, a machine operated by the weight of a dog traveling in a drum, or on an endless track, as for churning.
– Dog salmon
(Zool.)
, a salmon of northwest America and northern Asia; – the
– gorbuscha
; – called also holia
, and hone
. Dog shark
. (Zool.)
See
– Dogfish
. Dog's meat
, meat fit only for dogs; refuse; offal.
– Dog Star
. See in the Vocabulary.
– Dog wheat
(Bot.)
, Dog grass.
– Dog whelk
(Zool.)
, any species of univalve shells of the family
– Nassidæ
, esp. the Nassa reticulata
of England. To give to the dogs
, or To throw to the dogs
to throw away as useless.
“Throw physic to the dogs; I'll none of it.” Shak.
– To go to the dogs
, to go to ruin; to be ruined.
Webster 1828 Edition
Doff
DOFF
,Verb.
T.
1.
To put off, as dress.And made us doff our easy robes of peace.
2.
To strip or divest; as, he doffs himself.3.
To put or thrust away; to get rid of.To doff their dire distresses.
4.
To put off; to shift off; with a view to delay.Every day thou doffst me with some device.
[This word is, I believe, entirely obsolete in discourse, at least in the United States, but is retained in poetry.]
Definition 2024
doff
doff
English
Verb
doff (third-person singular simple present doffs, present participle doffing, simple past and past participle doffed)
- (clothing) to remove or take off, especially of clothing
- Shakespeare
- And made us doff our easy robes of peace.
- Emerson
- At night, or in the rain, / He dons a surcoat which he doffs at morn.
- 1960, P. G. Wodehouse, Jeeves in the Offing, chapter VII:
- She had doffed the shirt and Bermuda-shorts which she had been wearing and was now dressed for her journey home.
- Shakespeare
- to remove or tip a hat, as in greeting, salutation or as a mark of respect
- The rustics doffed their hats at the clergy.
- to get rid of, to throw off
- Doff that stupid idea: it would never work.
- 1778, Charles Dibdin, The Perfect Sailor:
- Thus Death, who kings and tars despatches,
- In vain Tom's life has doffed,
- For, though his body's under hatches
- His soul has gone aloft.
- (reflexive) To strip; to divest; to undress.
- Crashaw
- Heaven's King, who doffs himself our flesh to wear.
- Crashaw
Antonyms
- (remove or take off clothing): don
Derived terms
Synonyms
- (remove clothing): take off
Translations
to remove or take off, especially of clothing
to remove or tip a hat, as in greeting, salutation or as a mark of respect
to get rid of, to throw off
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