doff — English Dictionary

Verb

1. To remove or take off (something worn on the body such as armour or clothing, or something carried).

   Usage

   • Transitive

   Antonyms

   donput on

   Examples

   More examples (1)

   […] Calidore perceiuing, thought it beſt / To chaunge the manner of his loftie looke; / And doffing his bright armes, himſelfe addreſt / In ſhepheards vveed, and in his hand he tooke, / In ſtead of ſteelehead ſpeare, a ſhepheards hooke, […]

   Thou vveare a Lyons hide, doff it for ſhame, / And hang a Calues skin on thoſe recreant limbes.

   More examples (1)

   You haue deceiu'd our truſt, / And made vs doffe our eaſie roabes of peace, / To cruſh our old limbs in vngentle ſteele, / This is not vvell my Lord, this is not vvell.

   [T]hen made him d'off thoſe vveeds: / And ſent the Mightie vnto mightie deeds.

   More examples (9)

   Upon a riſing bank I ſat adovvn, / Then doff'd my ſhoe, […]

   The little vvarriors doff the targe and ſpear, […]

   [J]uſt for fun's ſake, doff your coat and vvaiſtcoat, and ſvvop vvith Monſieur Grinagain here, and I'll vvarrant you'll not knovv yourſelf vvhich is vvhich.

   Beside him ancient Angus stood, / Doffed his furred gown, and sable hood; […]

   I pray thee to call my slaves to unarm me; and when thou thyself doffest those weapons of an ordinary lifeguard's-man, tell them they never shall above twice more enclose the limbs of one for whom fate has much more fitting garments in store.

   Thou turnedst my mourning to dancing: / Thou doffedst my sackcloth, / And girdedst me round with gladness.

   But in the falling afternoon return'd / The huge Earl Doorm with plunder to the hall. / His lusty spearmen follow'd him with noise: / Each hurling down a heap of things that rang / Against the pavement, cast his lance aside, / And doff'd his helm: […]

   [A]t night, or in the rain, / He dons a surcoat which he doffs at morn: […]

   She had doffed the shirt and Bermuda-shorts which she had been wearing and was now dressed for her journey home.

2. To remove or take off (something worn on the body such as armour or clothing, or something carried). To remove or tip (a hat or other headwear) in greeting or salutation, or as a mark of respect.

   Usage

   • Transitive

   Examples

   The rustics doffed their hats at the clergy.

   [H]is courtesy to show, / He doffed, to Marmion bending low, / His broidered cap and plume.

   More examples (1)

   Were there really seventy-three ways to doff one's hat? / There were! I'd rather suspected that

3. To undress (oneself); to divest, to strip.

   Usage

   • dialectal
   • Reflexive
   • Transitive

   Examples

   More examples (1)

   VVhy art thou troubled Herod? vvhat vaine feare / Thy blood-revolving Breſt to rage doth move? / Heavens King, vvho doffs himſelfe vveake fleſh to vveare, / Comes not to rule in vvrath, but ſerve in love.

4. To cast aside or get rid of (something), to throw off.

   Usage

   • Figurative
   • Transitive

   Examples

   Doff that stupid idea: it will never work.

   […] Romeo doffe thy name, / And for thy name vvhich is no part of thee, / Take all my ſelfe.

   More examples (4)

   [H]ee (to requite their courteſie) oftentimes d'offeth off his ovvne Nature, and puts of theirs; as vvhen hee becomes as churliſh as a Hogge, or as drunke as a Sovv: […]

   Novv is the time of helpe: your eye in Scotland / VVould create Soldiours, make our vvomen fight, / To doffe their dire diſtreſſes.

   Thus death, vvho kings and tars deſpatches, / Tom's life hath vainly doff'd; / For though his body's under hatches, / His ſoul is gone aloft.

   Power laid his rod of rule aside, / And Ceremony doffed his pride.

5. To remove (a bobbin or spindle which is full of spun yarn) from a spinning frame for replacement with an empty one.

   Usage

   • Transitive

6. To remove (small pieces of cotton or other plant fibre, etc.) from a carding cylinder.

   Usage

   • Transitive

7. To put off or turn away (someone) with an excuse, etc.

   Usage

   • Obsolete
   • Transitive

   Examples

   More examples (2)

   Euery day, thou dofftſt me, vvith ſome deuiſe Iago; / And rather, as it ſeemes to me, thou keepeſt from me, / All conueniency, then ſupplieſt me, vvith the leaſt / Aduantage of hope: […]

   VVhen to one Goat, they reach that prickly vveed, / VVhich maketh all the reſt forbeare to feed; / Or ſtrevv Tods haires, or vvith their tailes do ſvveepe / The devvy graſſe, to d'off the ſimpler ſheepe; […]

8. To remove or tip a hat or other headwear in greeting or salutation, or as a mark of respect.

   Usage

   • Archaic
   • Intransitive
   • Rare

   Examples

   And [the goose] feeding high, and living soft, / Grew plump and able-bodied; / Until the grave churchwarden doff'd, / The parson smirk'd and nodded.

9. Followed by with: to remove or take off something worn on the body, or something carried.

   Usage

   • Intransitive
   • Obsolete
   • Rare

   Examples

   More examples (1)

   VVhy, look'ye, Major Sturgeon, I don't much care for your poppers and ſharpes, becauſe vvhy, they are out of my vvay; but if you vvill doff vvith your boots, and box a couple of bouts.

Noun

1. Followed by off: an act of putting off or turning away someone with an excuse, etc.

   Usage

   • Obsolete
   • Rare

   Examples

   Faith, Lelia has een giuen him the doff off here, and has made hir father almoſt ſtarke mad.

Verb

1. to take off from the body or head

   Broader terms

   take off

   Examples

   He doffed his hat