[…]Calidore perceiuing, thought it beſt / To chaunge the manner of his loftie looke; / Anddoffing his bright armes, himſelfe addreſt / In ſhepheards vveed, and in his hand he tooke, / In ſtead of ſteelehead ſpeare, a ſhepheards hooke,[…]
You haue deceiu'd our truſt, / And made vsdoffe our eaſie roabes of peace, / To cruſh our old limbs in vngentle ſteele, / This is not vvell my Lord, this is not vvell.
[J]uſt for fun's ſake,doff your coat and vvaiſtcoat, and ſvvop vvith MonſieurGrinagain here, and I'll vvarrant you'll not knovv yourſelf vvhich is vvhich.
I pray thee to call my slaves to unarm me; and when thou thyselfdoffest those weapons of an ordinary lifeguard's-man, tell them they never shall above twice more enclose the limbs of one for whom fate has much more fitting garments in store.
1850, Frederic Fysh, “Psalm XXX. A Psalm (a Song at the Dedication of the House) ofDavid.”, inA Lyrical Literal Version of thePsalms.[…], volume I, London:Seeleys[…],→OCLC, stanza III, verse 11,page56:
Thou turnedst my mourning to dancing: / Thoudoffedst my sackcloth, / And girdedst me round with gladness.
But in the falling afternoon return'd / The huge Earl Doorm with plunder to the hall. / His lusty spearmen follow'd him with noise: / Each hurling down a heap of things that rang / Against the pavement, cast his lance aside, / Anddoff'd his helm:[…]
1646,Richard Crashaw, “Sospetto d’Herode. Libro Primo.”, inSteps to the Temple. Sacred Poems, with Other Delights of the Muses, London:[…] T. W. for Humphrey Moseley,[…],→OCLC, stanza 65,page72:
VVhy art thou troubledHerod? vvhat vaine feare / Thy blood-revolving Breſt to rage doth move? / Heavens King, vvhodoffs himſelfe vveake fleſh to vveare, / Comes not to rule in vvrath, but ſerve in love.
Referring toJesus figuratively undressing and putting on human form.
[H]ee (to requite their courteſie) oftentimesd'offeth off his ovvne Nature, and puts of theirs; as vvhen hee becomes as churliſh as a Hogge, or as drunke as a Sovv:[…]
Novv is the time of helpe: your eye in Scotland / VVould create Soldiours, make our vvomen fight, / Todoffe their dire diſtreſſes.
[1781?],[Charles] Dibdin, “Poor Tom: Or, The Sailor’s Epitaph”, inThe Bull-finch. Being a Choice Collection of the Newest and Most Favourite English Songs which have been Sett to Music and Sung at the Public Theatres & Gardens, London:[…]G[eorge] Robinson and R[ichards] Baldwin[…], and G. & J. Wilkie[…],→OCLC, stanza 3,page199:
Thus death, vvho kings and tars deſpatches, / Tom's life hath vainlydoff'd; / For though his body's under hatches, / His ſoul is gone aloft.
Euery day, thoudofftſt me, vvith ſome deuiſeIago; / And rather, as it ſeemes to me, thou keepeſt from me, / All conueniency, then ſupplieſt me, vvith the leaſt / Aduantage of hope:[…]
a.1638 (date written), Benjamin Jonson [i.e.,Ben Jonson], “The Sad Shepherd: Or, A Tale ofRobin-Hood”, inThe Workes of Benjamin Jonson. The Second Volume.[…] (Second Folio), London:[…]Richard Meighen, published1640,→OCLC, Act I, scene iiii,page134:
VVhen to one Goat, they reach that prickly vveed, / VVhich maketh all the reſt forbeare to feed; / Or ſtrevvTods haires, or vvith their tailes do ſvveepe / The devvy graſſe, tod'off the ſimpler ſheepe;[…]
VVhy, look'ye, Major Sturgeon, I don't much care for your poppers and ſharpes, becauſe vvhy, they are out of my vvay; but if you vvilldoff vvith your boots, and box a couple of bouts.
(transitive) to remove or tip (a hat or other headwear) in greeting or salutation, or as a mark of respect; (intransitive) to remove or tip a hat or other headwear in greeting or salutation, or as a mark of respect
Jacob Poole (d. 1827) (before 1828), William Barnes, editor,A Glossary, With some Pieces of Verse, of the old Dialect of the English Colony in the Baronies of Forth and Bargy, County of Wexford, Ireland, London: J. Russell Smith, published1867,page35
, Oxford:Oxford University Press, December 2024;“doff,v.”, inLexico,Dictionary.com;Oxford University Press,2019–2022.
doffer on Wikipedia.Wikipedia