doff
English
Etymology
From Middle English doffe, dof, equivalent to a blend of do + off. Compare don, dup, dout, gauf.
Pronunciation
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /dɒf/
- (General American) IPA(key): /dɔf/
- (US, cot–caught merger) IPA(key): /dɑf/
- Rhymes: -ɒf
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:
Synonyms
- (remove clothing): take off
Antonyms
- (remove or take off clothing): don
Derived terms
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
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