Dictionary-Definition.com :: Coffer definition

Definition of 'coffer'

noun

An ornamental sunken panel in a ceiling or dome [syn: coffer, caisson, lacuna]

noun

A chest especially for storing valuables

From: GCIDE

Coffer \Cof"fer\ (?; 115), n. [OF. cofre, F. coffre, L. cophinus basket, fr. Gr. ?. Cf. Coffin, n.]
1. A casket, chest, or trunk; especially, one used for keeping money or other valuables. --Chaucer. [1913 Webster]
In ivory coffers I have stuffed my crowns. --Shak. [1913 Webster]
2. Fig.: Treasure or funds; -- usually in the plural. [1913 Webster]
He would discharge it without any burden to the queen's coffers, for honor sake. --Bacon. [1913 Webster]
Hold, here is half my coffer. --Shak. [1913 Webster]
3. (Arch.) A panel deeply recessed in the ceiling of a vault, dome, or portico; a caisson. [1913 Webster]
4. (Fort.) A trench dug in the bottom of a dry moat, and extending across it, to enable the besieged to defend it by a raking fire. [1913 Webster]
5. The chamber of a canal lock; also, a caisson or a cofferdam. [1913 Webster]
Coffer dam. (Engin.) See Cofferdam, in the Vocabulary.
Coffer fish. (Zool.) See Cowfish. [1913 Webster]

From: GCIDE

Coffer \Cof"fer\, v. t.
1. To put into a coffer. --Bacon. [1913 Webster]
2. (Mining.) To secure from leaking, as a shaft, by ramming clay behind the masonry or timbering. --Raymond. [1913 Webster]
3. To form with or in a coffer or coffers; to furnish with a coffer or coffers. [1913 Webster]

Coffer the receptacle or small box placed beside the ark by the Philistines, in which they deposited the golden mice and the emerods as their trespass-offering (1 Sam. 6:8, 11, 15).