doff

verb \ ˈdäf , ˈdȯf \

|Updated on: 23 Jun 2018

Examples: doff in a Sentence

Editor's Note: doff vs Don

Definition of doff

transitive verb

1 a : to remove (an article of wear) from the body

b : to take off (the hat) in greeting or as a sign of respect

2 : to rid oneself of : put aside

— doff one's hat to or doff one's cap to

: to show respect to : salute

See doff defined for English-language learners

See doff defined for kids

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Examples of doff in a Sentence

He doffed his cap as he introduced himself.
They doffed their coats when they came inside.

Recent Examples of doff from the Web

The senior left-hander then doffed his cap in response to the standing ovation from the Goss Stadium crowd of 3,960, but what came next caught him off-guard.

— ron richmond for the oregonian/oregonlive, OregonLive.com, "Oregon State baseball gets back-to-back homers, strong start from Luke Heimlich to beat Minnesota," 8 June 2018
Your information will be used as described in our Privacy Policy NEW YORK — Justin Verlander exited the field and doffed his cap to a sizable contingent of Astros fans audible among the boos echoing from a sellout crowd at Yankee Stadium.

— chandler rome, Houston Chronicle, "Astros, Verlander beat Yankees as bullpen holds on," 28 May 2018
The speaking ceremonies ended, Mayor Benbough doffed his official coat and with a cap supplied by Cedric Durst, Padre outfielder, a glove and ball, strode toward the mound to warm up for the initial pitch.

— sandiegouniontribune.com, "San Diego turns out for the opening of Pacific Coast League baseball," 1 Apr. 2018
The elderly Carr doffs his bathrobe to become his younger self to participate in his encounters with the others, who also include his manservant, Bennett (Patrick Kerr), who harbors revolutionary sympathies.

— ben brantley, New York Times, "Review: Screwball Eggheads Tear Up the Library in ‘Travesties’," 24 Apr. 2018
Dozens of young women have been arrested for doffing their headscarves in public to protest the official dress code.

— The Economist, "Mullahs rig the price of moolah in Iran," 21 Apr. 2018
On the most excruciatingly hot day, officials did make a tradition-breaking exception, allowing men to doff their coats and hats intermittently.

— steven stolman, Town & Country, "How to Get into the Royal Enclosure at Ascot," 23 June 2017
In the past few years, Lady Gaga doffed a pink cowboy hat for Joanne, Kesha and Miley Cyrus called upon Dolly Parton for Rainbow and Younger Now, respectively, and Justin Timberlake spackled banjo upon breakbeats for Man of the Woods.

— spencer kornhaber, The Atlantic, "Telling the Pop-Star-Goes-Country Story Again," 6 Apr. 2018
That night Beria enters the maid's cell, doffing his coat, and Iannucci fades to black; the next morning she's sent home with her parents and a bouquet of flowers.

— j.r. jones, Chicago Reader, "The Death of Stalin shines a light on Lavrenti Beria, head of the Soviet Union’s dreaded secret police.," 15 Mar. 2018

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

doff vs Don

Time was, people talked about doffing and donning articles of wear with about the same frequency. But in the mid-19th century the verb don became significantly more popular and left doff to flounder a bit in linguistic semi-obscurity. Doff and don have been a pair from the start: both date to the 14th century, with doff coming from a phrase meaning "to do off" and don from one meaning "to do on." Shakespeare was first, as far as we know, to use the word as it's defined at sense 2. He put it in Juliet's mouth: "What's in a name? That which we call a rose / By any other name would smell as sweet. / … Romeo, doff thy name; / And for that name, which is no part of thee, / Take all myself."