coat
/kəʊt
/noun
1An outer garment with sleeves, worn outdoors and typically extending below the hips: a winter coat [as modifier]: his coat pocket...
- Mr. Walker pulled a pair of mittens out of his coat pocket and handed them to me.
- We wore our winter coats and stuffed our pockets with what little bread we had left.
- See this new camera is big and bulky - in winter I put it in my puffy coat pocket and barely even noticed it.
Synonyms
overcoat, tunic
1.1A protective outer garment worn indoors: a laboratory coat...
- I am eternally grateful to those who showed me that science needn't be all laboratories and lab coats.
- They were put in white laboratory coats and asked to modify the behaviour of some other folk by way of an electric shock.
- Good microbiologic techniques must be utilized and should include wearing a laboratory coat and gloves.
1.2A man’s jacket, especially as worn when hunting or by soldiers.The new line includes a hunting coat, parka, vest, shirt and pant....
- Like a tailor, he keeps big needles pinned behind the lapel of his coat, a plaid jacket too large for him.
- Personally I think the jackets look like pyjama coats, but they are not my cuppa.
1.3A woman’s tailored jacket, worn with a skirt or dress: she wore a pale linen coat and skirt...
- Key focus continues to be short shift dresses, coats and skirts.
- The next three hours were a blur, as Keira tried on dresses, shirts, coats, skirts, pants, shoes and hats.
- This season's key items are all short, from skirts to dresses and coats.
2An animal’s covering of fur or hair: a dog’s coat may become tangled and matted...
- For instance, someone who is especially house proud will not want a dog with a long coat which sheds hair all over the furniture.
- Animals with heavy coats, such as Highland cattle and Galloways, were the most prone to problems, he added.
- Believe it or not mathematics explains why animals can have coats with spotted bodies and striped tails but not striped bodies with spotted tails.
Synonyms
fur, hair, wool, fleece;
hide, pelt, skin
archaic fell
3An outer layer or covering: [with modifier]: the protein coat of the virus...
- The env gene codes for a protein on the outer coat of the virus that allows it to recognize and attach to human cells.
- They code for the coat proteins of the two viruses, which are primary targets for the host immune system.
- Finally, all the Ames test strains have defective polysaccharide outer coats, to make them more permeable to the test chemicals.
Synonyms
layer, covering, overlay, coating, skin, skim, plating, film, wash, glaze, varnish, veneer, lamination, sheet, finish, dusting, blanket, mantle, daub, smear, topping, crust, patina, lustre, deposit, scale, facing, cladding
3.1A single application of paint or similar material on a surface: apply a final top coat of varnish...
- They felt it needed a new coat of paint to freshen it up.
- Yet another group applied fresh coats of paint on the panels of windows and doors.
- And how I would love to put a fresh coat of paint on it.
3.2A structure, especially a membrane, enclosing or lining an organ.The myometrium is a thick coat containing smooth muscle and abundant connective tissues....
- The epithelial lining and muscle coats made a morphologic switch as the sections ascended in a direction toward the testes.
- The serous coat is an extension of the peritoneum, and it covers only the superior and upper lateral surfaces.
3.3The skin or husk of a fruit or seed.Thus, seeds lacking a coat were germinated in a horizontal or a vertical position....
- Imbibition is necessary before decoating because it is difficult to remove the coats of dry seeds without causing injury.
- In maize, as in all flowering plants, the seed develops inside a coat of maternal origin.
3.4A layer of a plant bulb.
verb [with object]
1Provide with a layer or covering of something: her right leg was coated in plaster coat each part with a thin oil (as adjective, in combination -coated) plastic-coated wire...
- It is then coated with a thin layer of white lead on which the outline of the picture is drawn.
- It's as if the camera lens had been coated with a thin layer of Vaseline and hurriedly wiped clean.
- My eyes had been coated with a layer of black mascara and a decent amount of black eyeliner.
Synonyms
cover, overlay, paint, glaze, varnish, wash, surface, veneer, inlay, laminate, plate, blanket, mantle, daub, smear, bedaub, cake, plaster, overspread, encrust, face
literary besmear
1.1(Of a substance) form a covering to: a film of dust coated the floor...
- The limestone dust in the air coats our throats and drives us nigh mad with need for a drink.
- A thin film of dust coated the drying tears, and she regarded it with disgust.
- Her mother arched an eyebrow, looking at the blood coating her tile floor.
Origin
Middle English: from Old French cote, of unknown ultimate origin.