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Glite Dictionary
to doff someone's coat

to doff someone's coat

8.2
To take off a coat you are wearing
  • phrasal verb
translation icon : quitarse el abrigo
  • After arriving at the party, he politely doffed his coat and handed it to the attendant.

Examples

  • Please doff your coat before entering the house.

  • The guests doffed their coats and settled into the warm living room.

  • She doffed her coat as soon as she got inside.

  • Could you doff your coat for me?

  • As soon as he got inside, he doffed his coat and felt the warmth of the fireplace.

  • The host asked each guest to doff their coats before sitting down for dinner.

  • She quickly doffed her coat before running outside to play in the snow.

Synonyms

to take off
vsto doff someone's coat
∞ 1.5

To remove clothes or something from your body

refers only to removing an outer garment rather than objects in general
to doff
vsto doff someone's coat
3 9.9

To take off a hat or other piece of clothing

refers specifically to removing an outer garment rather than any article

Antonyms

to put on
679 1.0

To dress yourself in clothes or wear things like makeup

Surface Forms

doff someone's coat infinitive
doffed someone's coat past
doffed someone's coat past participle
doffing someone's coat present participle
doffs someone's coat third person singular

Morphology

doff + someone's + coat

The meaning 'to take off a coat' is directly compositional from 'doff' (to remove an article of clothing) + 'coat' (an outer garment), so a B1 learner who knows both words should be able to infer the MWE. Although 'doff' is somewhat formal/archaic and often collocates with 'hat', the semantic relation is straightforward and follows ordinary verb + object composition.

Etymology

The phrase doff someone's coat comes from the old short word doff, a quick form of 'do off' that meant to take clothing off. Imagine politely taking off your coat and giving it to someone; that's why it means 'to take off or remove one's coat'.