1. A strongbox.
2. often coffers
   1. Financial resources; funds.
   2. A treasury: stole money from the union coffers.
3. Architecture. A decorative sunken panel in a ceiling, dome, soffit, or vault.
4. The chamber formed by a canal lock.
5. A cofferdam.
6. A floating dock.

1. To put in a coffer.
2. Architecture. To supply (a ceiling, for example) with decorative sunken panels.

[Middle English cofre, from Old French, alteration of *cofne, from Latin cophinus, basket. See coffin.]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.