Theme music by Joshua Stamper ©2006 New Jerusalem Music/ASCAP
He doffed his cap as he introduced himself.
They doffed their coats when they came inside.
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.
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."
First Known Use: 14th century
in the meaning defined at sense 1a
See Words from the same year: to take off or remove (a hat or a piece of clothing)
See words that rhyme with doff Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for doff Spanish Central: Translation of doff Nglish: Translation of doff for Spanish speakers
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