coffer

noun cof·fer \ ˈkȯ-fər , ˈkä- \

|Updated on: 16 Jun 2018

Examples: coffer in a Sentence

Definition of coffer

1 : chest

Among the items at the auction was an 18th-century oak coffer.

; especially : strongbox

put the money in the coffer

2 : treasury, funds —usually used in plural

… public coffers running dry in a bleak economy …
—Vivienne Walt and Roya Wolverson

corporate coffers

3 : a recessed panel in a vault, ceiling, or soffit

ceiling coffers

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Examples of coffer in a Sentence

kept the jewels in a locked coffer
let me see what's in the household coffers and I'll get back to you about making a donation

Recent Examples of coffer from the Web

That was an unfortunate move because cash was flowing into state coffers during his term.

— randy blaser, chicagotribune.com, "Column: Who's up to the job of digging Illinois out of the pension hole it's in?," 15 Feb. 2018
There’s no question Oklahoma’s tax incentives have become more costly at a time state coffers have dwindled.

— sean murphy, The Seattle Times, "Oklahoma pulling up red carpet offered to wind industry," 10 Feb. 2018
The crash in global oil prices in 2014 did not help state coffers either.

— charles p. pierce, Esquire, "Checking in on America's Newest State, Foxconnsin," 8 Feb. 2018
Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke has claimed that Obama-era rules restricting offshore drilling cost Uncle Sam $11.5 billion — a tiny fraction of the $1.5 trillion the president’s tax plan just removed from government coffers.

— eric levitz, Daily Intelligencer, "Trump Just Let Florida Block Offshore Drilling. That’s a Scandal.," 10 Jan. 2018
At its peak, the track put about $750,000 a year directly into the county’s coffers, Smolnik said.

— Washington Post, "Long opposed to casinos, Virginia may be ready to gamble," 5 May 2018
The agreement, announced in 1989, poured nearly $143 million a year into the NCAA’s coffers — nearly triple the size of the previous contract.

— carl martin, Detroit Free Press, "Fab Five scandal doesn't tell full story of Ed Martin: 'He helped everybody'," 30 Apr. 2018
Well, that's just really isn't about money going into Democratic coffers.

— Fox News, "Jonathan Turley: Comey is harming the FBI with tell-all," 19 Apr. 2018
Prosecutors found that during the governments of his Workers’ Party (PT) construction companies systematically overpaid for public contracts, with money going into the pockets of public officials and coalition allies, and into party coffers.

— The Economist, "Brazil’s Lula and government by judges," 5 Apr. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'coffer.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of coffer

Middle English cofre, coffre, borrowed from Anglo-French, altered (with n to r) from Latin cophinus "large basket, hamper" (sense "chest" attested in early Medieval Latin), borrowed from Greek kóphinos "large basket" — more at ¹coffin

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 13th century

in the meaning defined at sense 1

See Words from the same year