coffer

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

1. n. A strongbox.
2. n. Financial resources; funds.
3. n. A treasury: stole money from the union coffers.
4. n. Architecture A decorative sunken panel in a ceiling, dome, soffit, or vault.
5. n. The chamber formed by a canal lock.
6. n. A cofferdam.
7. n. A floating dock.
8. v. To put in a coffer.
9. v. Architecture To supply (a ceiling, for example) with decorative sunken panels.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. n. A box, casket, or chest (as now understood, a large chest), especially one used for keeping valuables, as money; an ark; hence, figuratively, a treasury; in the plural, the wealth or pecuniary resources of a person, corporation, nation, etc.
2. n. In architecture, a sunk panel or compartment in a ceiling or soffit, of an ornamental character, usually enriched with moldings and having a rose, pomegranate, star, or other ornament in the center; a caisson.
3. n. In fortification, a hollow lodgment across a dry moat, from 6 to 7 feet deep and from 16 to 18 feet broad. The upper part is made of pieces of timber raised 2 feet above the level of the moat, and upon them are placed hurdles laden with earth, which serve as a covering and as a parapet. It is raised by the besieged to repulse besiegers when they endeavor to pass the ditch.
4. n. A trough in which tin ore is broken to pieces.
5. n. A kind of caisson or floating dock.
6. n. A canal-lock chamber.
7. To deposit or lay up in a coffer: usually with up.
8. To furnish or ornament with coffers, as a ceiling.

Wiktionary

1. n. A strongbox: a strong chest or box used for keeping money or valuables safe.
2. n. architecture An ornamental sunken panel in a ceiling or dome.
3. n. A cofferdam.
4. n. A supply or store of money, often belonging to an organization.
5. v. transitive To put money or valuables in a coffer
6. v. transitive To decorate something, especially a ceiling, with coffers.

GNU Webster's 1913

1. n. A casket, chest, or trunk; especially, one used for keeping money or other valuables.
2. n. Fig.: Treasure or funds; -- usually in the plural.
3. n. (Arch.) A panel deeply recessed in the ceiling of a vault, dome, or portico; a caisson.
4. n. (Fort.) A trench dug in the bottom of a dry moat, and extending across it, to enable the besieged to defend it by a raking fire.
5. n. The chamber of a canal lock; also, a caisson or a cofferdam.
6. v. To put into a coffer.
7. v. (Mining.) To secure from leaking, as a shaft, by ramming clay behind the masonry or timbering.
8. v. To form with or in a coffer or coffers; to furnish with a coffer or coffers.

WordNet 3.0

1. n. a chest especially for storing valuables
2. n. an ornamental sunken panel in a ceiling or dome