coat

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

• noun A sleeved outer garment extending from the shoulders to the waist or below.
• noun A natural outer covering, such as the fur of an animal or the enveloping layer of an organ.
• noun A layer of material covering something else; a coating.
• transitive verb To provide or cover with a coat.
• transitive verb To cover with a layer, as of paint.

from The Century Dictionary.

• To cover with a coat or outer garment; cover or protect as with a coat.
• To overspread with a coating or layer of another substance: as, to coat something with wax or tin-foil.
• noun A somewhat similar jacket worn by women.
• noun A principal outer garment; any covering for the body.
• noun An outer or upper garment worn by men, covering the upper part of the body.
• noun A woman's outdoor garment resembling a man's coat in material and make.
• noun An under garment for the upper part of the body, fitting somewhat closely; a tunic or shirt.
• noun A petticoat.
• noun The habit or vesture of an order or class of men, and hence the order or class itself, or the office or station peculiar to the order; cloth.
• noun The external natural covering of an animal, as hair, fur, wool, etc.
• noun A thin layer of a substance covering a surface; a coating: as, a coat of paint, pitch, or varnish; a coat of tinfoil.
• noun One of a number of concentric layers: as, the coats of an onion.
• noun In anatomy, a tunic or membranous covering of some part or organ: as, the coats of the eye.
• noun Nautical, a piece of tarred or painted canvas fitted about the masts at the partuers, about the rudder-casing, and around the pumps where they pass through the upper deck, to keep the water from working down. See mast-coat.
• noun A coat-card.
• noun In heraldry, a coat of arms or an achievement: used in a general sense.
• noun Same as coat-money.
• noun A coat of mail.
• noun A surcoat or tabard embroidered with armorial bearings, such as in modern times is worn only by a herald of arms on rare ceremonial occasions. It is a survival of the medieval surcoat. (which see).
• noun In a more general sense, any defensive garment for the body, quilted with small plates, rings, or scales of iron. (See gambeson and broigne.) The use of the term to denote plate-armor is erroneous.
• noun A variant spelling of cote.

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

• transitive verb To cover with a coat or outer garment.
• transitive verb To cover with a layer of any substance.
• noun An outer garment fitting the upper part of the body; especially, such a garment worn by men.
• noun obsolete A petticoat.
• noun The habit or vesture of an order of men, indicating the order or office; cloth.
• noun An external covering like a garment, as fur, skin, wool, husk, or bark.
• noun A layer of any substance covering another; a cover; a tegument.
• noun Same as Coat of arms. See below.
• noun obsolete A coat card. See below.
• noun See under Armor.
• noun (Her.) a translation of the French cotte d'armes, a garment of light material worn over the armor in the 15th and 16th centuries. This was often charged with the heraldic bearings of the wearer. Hence, an heraldic achievement; the bearings of any person, taken together.
• noun a card bearing a coated figure; the king, queen, or knave of playing cards.
• noun a pair of buttons or studs joined by a link, to hold together the lappels of a double-breasted coat; or a button with a loop for a single-breasted coat.
• noun a defensive garment of chain mail.
• noun (Naut.) a piece of canvas nailed around a mast, where it passes through the deck, to prevent water from getting below.
• noun (Naut.) a canvas cover laced over furled sails, and the like, to keep them dry and clean.

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

• noun countable An outer garment covering the upper torso and arms.
• noun countable A covering of material, such as paint.
• noun countable The fur or feathers of animal.
• noun uncountable, nautical canvas painted with thick tar and secured round a mast or bowsprit to prevent water running down the sides into the hold (now made of rubber or leather)
• verb To cover with a coat of some material
• verb To cover as a coat.