doff.
To remove or take off (something worn on the body such as armour or clothing, or something carried).
Meaning & usage
To remove or take off (something worn on the body such as armour or clothing, or something carried).
To remove or take off (something worn on the body such as armour or clothing, or something carried). To remove or tip (a hat or other headwear) in greeting or salutation, or as a mark of respect.
The rustics doffed their hats at the clergy.
To undress (oneself); to divest, to strip.
To cast aside or get rid of (something), to throw off.
Doff that stupid idea: it will never work.
To remove (a bobbin or spindle which is full of spun yarn) from a spinning frame for replacement with an empty one.
To remove (small pieces of cotton or other plant fibre, etc.) from a carding cylinder.
To put off or turn away (someone) with an excuse, etc.
To remove or tip a hat or other headwear in greeting or salutation, or as a mark of respect.
Followed by with: to remove or take off something worn on the body, or something carried.
Where this word comes from
PIE word *h₂epó The verb is derived from Late Middle English doffen (“to take off (clothing); to remove (headwear) as a sign of respect; to remove (grease) by skimming”), a contraction of Middle English do off, don off, from Old English dōn of, from dōn (“to do; to put; to take off, remove”) + of (“from; off”). Dōn is derived from Proto-West Germanic *dōn (“to do; to place, put”), from Proto-Germanic *dōną (“to do; to make; to place, put”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁- (“to do; to place, put”). By surface analysis, do + off. Compare don (by surface analysis, do + on), dout (do + out), dup (do + up). The noun is derived from the verb.
Followed by off: an act of putting off or turning away someone with an excuse, etc.
Where this word comes from
PIE word *h₂epó The verb is derived from Late Middle English doffen (“to take off (clothing); to remove (headwear) as a sign of respect; to remove (grease) by skimming”), a contraction of Middle English do off, don off, from Old English dōn of, from dōn (“to do; to put; to take off, remove”) + of (“from; off”). Dōn is derived from Proto-West Germanic *dōn (“to do; to place, put”), from Proto-Germanic *dōną (“to do; to make; to place, put”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁- (“to do; to place, put”). By surface analysis, do + off. Compare don (by surface analysis, do + on), dout (do + out), dup (do + up). The noun is derived from the verb.
Try it on your idea.
doff has 4 characters. Say it out loud, try it alongside a description of your project, and see whether its meaning fits what you want to create.
These are naming prompts. Meanings and pronunciation can vary; existing brand and domain uses have not been checked.
Explore the name generatorA word with a source.
Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.
Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.