coffin

«coffin» in Mova's school dictionary: buried or cremated — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 5 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

part of speech

noun (a coffin, coffins)

meaning for a pupil

1) A long box in which a dead person is buried or cremated. tree →

2) (idiom) A nail in the coffin: something that helps to end or ruin something. tree →

sense in the lessons

In everyday life coffins are part of funerals; in history lessons Egyptian coffins (sarcophagi) and mummies appear; in spooky stories vampires sleep in coffins. Phrases: a nail in the coffin, carry the coffin, open coffin.

examples

• The coffin was carried into the church. tree →
• Egyptian mummies were placed in painted coffins. tree →
• In the story, the vampire climbed out of his coffin. tree →
• (idiom) Losing their best player was the final nail in the coffin for the team. tree →
• The family put flowers on the coffin. tree →
• Grandad's coffin was made of oak. tree →
• Says the father-in-law from his coffin: tree →

note

Countable. US also says "casket". Death and funerals can be sad topics; speak gently. "Nail in the coffin" is an idiom, not about real coffins.

In the corpora

• Picture a small church in Wellington: at the front stands a long wooden box covered in flowers, the coffin.
• At a Christian funeral the person's body is in the coffin; the body has stopped working and cannot feel anything.
• Pallbearers carry the coffin; they may be family, friends or people who work for the funeral director.
• In a burial the coffin is lowered into a grave in a cemetery or churchyard.
• At many crematorium services curtains close around the coffin at the end, as a sign of goodbye.

Trees and pragmatics

Every meaning and example of «coffin» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.