Dictionary

coffin door en · NOUN

Meanings

1. A door that leads directly into the second story of some older houses, used to bring in (and out) a coffin when a person died on the second story (where people often slept) and the coffin could not be brought up the (usually narrow or spiral) staircase from the first story.
   • I remember jumping off the high steps that led up to the coffin door on the second floor of the cottage, so named because the deceased could easily be loaded onto a horse-drawn hearse that way. I was scared, but I didn't want to be called chicken by my cousins, so [...] 2022, Katherine Tamiko Arguile, Meshi: A personal history of Japanese food:
   • … second window from the right on the second story replaced the “coffin door,” a necessity in homes where a coffin and other furniture could not fit on the staircase. 2014, Stephanie Marks Sawyer, Mount Laurel
2. A door on the first story of a house which leads directly into a room that would be used for hosting an in-home funeral, and/or that is wide enough to bring a coffin through.

Forms