Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • transitive verb To take off; remove.
  • transitive verb To tip or remove (one's hat) in salutation.
  • transitive verb To put aside; discard.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • To put or take off, as dress, or any article of dress, especially the hat or cap.
  • To strip; uncover; lay bare.
  • To put or drive off; thrust aside or away.
  • To throw, as something taken off or rejected; put or thrust so as to be out of the way.
  • In textile manufacturing: To strip off, as cotton or wool for spinning from the cards or carding-cylinder, etc. (see doffer); also, to remove or take away, as full bobbins, to make way for empty ones.
  • To mend or piece together, as broken threads.
  • To remove the hat from the head in salutation.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • transitive verb To put off, as dress; to divest one's self of; hence, figuratively, to put or thrust away; to rid one's self of.
  • transitive verb To strip; to divest; to undress.
  • intransitive verb To put off dress; to take off the hat.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • verb clothing to remove or take off, especially of clothing
  • verb to remove or tip a hat, as in greeting, salutation or as a mark of respect
  • verb to get rid of, to throw off

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • verb remove

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English doffen, from don off, to do off : don, to do; see do + off, off; see off.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Middle English doffe, dof, equivalent to a blend of do and off. Compare don, dup, dout, gauf.

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Examples

  • _Do on_, put on; often shortened into "don"; cf. doff, which is shortened from do off.

    The Story of Sigurd the Volsung William Morris 1865

  • "doff" it is. actually, why don't i just add that to the "don" entry, since it's essentially the same thing?

    Strunk and Light Addendum 2006

  • Based on blog and comment reactions I've seen, some readers find that element really shocking, and at that point either doff their hat in my direction for how I handled it, or get really angry, either at the story or directly at me.

    An Interview with Mike Allen marshallpayne1 2009

  • (Neil Gaiman reports on his blog that he is going to buy a cap just so he can doff it to Pratchett.) 2 comments | Leave a comment

    Sir Pratchett of Discworld arhyalon 2009

  • So I'd like to doff my hat and say, "Gracias a todos!"

    Moderators 2010

  • So I'd like to doff my hat and say, "Gracias a todos!"

    Moderators 2010

  • So park your Fiat 500 in the driveway of your Mid-Century modern rancher, doff your bouclé suit and prim pumps, and settle back in your Eames sofa with a chilled martini.

    Fashion's Top 10 Moments Christina Binkley 2011

  • At least she could send the cops on my trail to be baffled over my corpse, doff their hats, and forget it ever happened.

    Egg Hunt Thomas Pluck 2011

  • So park your Fiat 500 in the driveway of your Mid-Century modern rancher, doff your bouclé suit and prim pumps, and settle back in your Eames couch: In one sense, 'Mad Men' is always on these days.

    Fashion Highlights From 2011 2011

  • So I'd like to doff my hat and say, "Gracias a todos!"

    Moderators 2010

Comments

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  • A contraction of "do off". Contrast with don.

    January 5, 2007

  • "Doffe of thy clothes, And knele in thy kyrtylle."

    - Sir Thomas Mallory, 'Le Morte Darthur', circa 1470.

    (phrases.org.uk notes kyrtylle as a tunic or petticoat)

    December 30, 2010

  • "Sam retired behind the hedge in front of his trailer to doff his clothes."-Dead as a Doornail, by Charlaine Harris

    May 19, 2011

  • I had but to drink the cup, to doff at once the body of the noted professor, and to assume, like a thick cloak, that of Edward Hyde.

    Robert Louis Stevenson, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

    July 28, 2011