Coffer

/ˈkɒfə/ · noun

Meaning

A strong chest or box used for keeping money or valuables safe..

Definitions by Sense

1. A strong chest or box used for keeping money or valuables safe.
2. (architecture) An ornamental sunken panel in a ceiling or dome.
3. A temporary watertight structure used during underwater construction of bridges, causeways, ships, etc.
4. A supply or store of money, often belonging to an organization.
5. A trench dug in the bottom of a dry moat, and extending across it, to enable the besieged to defend it with raking fire.
6. (transitive) To put money or valuables in a coffer
7. (transitive) To decorate something, especially a ceiling, with coffers.

Example Sentences

"There is nothing in that," said Guido, "but a genealogy of the Carraras, drawn up by my grandfather. We have kept this little ebony coffer for the sake of its curious carving. The marriage of Cana is beautifully wrought on its lid."

Prolapsed and waterstained ceiling, the sagging coffers.

c. 1610–1620 (written), 1661 (first published), Francis Bacon, Letter of Advice to the Duke of Buckingham He would discharge it without any great burden to the queen's coffers.

Hold, there is half my coffer.

The coffers were empty, and the first thing to be done was to devise some means by which we could raise a revenue.

Synonyms for coffer

Antonyms for coffer

Related Words

Word Forms

• coffers
• copher
• cophre
• coffering
• coffered

Usage Notes

Choose a synonym only when it preserves the intended meaning, tone, and grammar of the full sentence.

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