- 1 a piece of outdoor clothing that is worn over other clothes to keep warm or dry. Coats have sleeves and may be long or short. a fur/leather coat a long winter coat to put on/take off your coat see also duffel coat, greatcoat, housecoat, overcoat, petticoat, raincoat, trench coat Oxford Collocations Dictionary adjectivelong, short, three-quarter length, … verb + coatdon, pull on, put on, … coat + nouncollar, pocket, sleeve, … See full entry See related entries: Clothes
- 2 (North American English) (old-fashioned in BrE) a jacket that is worn as part of a suit see also frock coat, morning coat, tailcoat, waistcoat Oxford Collocations Dictionary adjectivelong, short, three-quarter length, … verb + coatdon, pull on, put on, … coat + nouncollar, pocket, sleeve, … See full entry
- 3 the fur, hair or wool that covers an animal’s body a dog with a smooth/shaggy coat animals in their winter coats (= grown long for extra warmth) Oxford Collocations Dictionary adjectivelong, short, thick, … verb + coatshed See full entry See related entries: Parts of animals
- 4 a layer of paint or some other substance that covers a surface to give the walls a second coat of paint see also topcoat, undercoat Oxford Collocations Dictionary adjectivethick, light, thin, … verb + coatapply, put on coat + verbdry prepositioncoat of See full entry Word OriginMiddle English: from Old French cote, of unknown ultimate origin.Extra examples Let me take your coat. Make sure the base coat has thoroughly dried before applying the top coat. The coat was buttoned up wrong. The dog sheds its winter coat once the weather becomes warmer. The room needs a fresh coat of paint. a coat of paint/varnish a dog with a long shaggy coat Apply a coat of clear varnish. The floor needs another coat of varnish. The windows were painted with undercoat and two coats of gloss. Why don’t you take off your coat if you’re hot? a fur coat duffel coat trench coatIdioms
(saying) to do only what you have enough money to do and no more We wanted to buy a bigger house than this but it was a case of cutting our coat according to our cloth.
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