Word.ws English Dictionary

reefer

UK/ˈɹiːfə//ˈɹiːfɚ/

reefer noun: someone who reefs sails, especially a midshipman.

Noun (1)

reefer (plural reefers)

  1. Someone who reefs sails, especially a midshipman.
    • Her reefer cap was all on one side and on her cheek there was the print of an anchor button she had pressed on while sleeping.1922, Katherine Mansfield, “Prelude”, in Selected Stories, Oxford, published 2002, page 85
    • The mess table, at which the reefers and mates made merry, was fixed in the middle of the berth.1905, John Masefield, Sea Life in Nelson's Times, page 27
  2. A reefer jacket; a close-fitting jacket or short coat of thick cloth.

Noun (2)

reefer (plural reefers)

  1. (US, colloquial) A refrigerated, insulated trailer, ship or shipping container.
    • Was the dark of the moon on the sixth of June
      In a Kenworth pullin' logs.
      Cab-over Pete with a reefer on
      And a Jimmy haulin' hogs.1975, “Convoy”, in C.W. McCall, Chip Davis (lyrics), Black Bear Road, performed by C. W. McCall
    • Next to the cash register, a bulletin board was thumbtacked with notes from deadheaders who needed loads heading west, and shippers looking for a reefer (refrigerated truck) going down to Florida.1988, Jane Stern, Michael Stern, A taste of America, →ISBN, page 41
  2. (US) a refrigerator car (type of boxcar).

Noun (3)

reefer (countable and uncountable, plural reefers)

  1. (countable, dated, slang) A marijuana cigarette.
    • 'Most of the real hep-cats smoke reefers,' explained Leiter. 'Wouldn't be allowed most places.'1954, Ian Fleming, “Table Z”, in Live and Let Die, London: Pan Books, published 1957, page 54
  2. (dated, slang, uncountable) Marijuana.
    • Daddy I don't want to go to school because the teacher's a jerk, he must think I'm a fool and all the kids smoke reefer, I think it'd be cheaper if I just got a job learned to be a street sweeper.1982, Edward G. Fletcher, Melle Mel, “The Message”, in The Message, performed by Grandmaster Flash
    • As time went on and I smoked more reefer, I began to spend more time with other dope smokers, reminiscing on how good the sixties were, rather than actually participating in the current political movements.1984 April 7, N.B., “Chemical Dependency in the Gay Community”, in Gay Community News, page 5

Forms of reefer

pluralreefers

Plural of reefer: reefers

Origin of reefer

From reef + -er.

Clipping of refrigerator.

Uncertain. Perhaps from Mexican Spanish grifa (“cannabis”)/Central American Spanish grifo (“someone who smokes cannabis”), or from the rolled-up appearance of a marijuana cigarette resembling a reefed sail. First attested in the 1920s.

Words formed from reefer

Phrases with reefer

Words that rhyme with reefer

Questions about reefer

What does reefer mean?
Reefer means someone who reefs sails, especially a midshipman.
What part of speech is reefer?
Reefer is a noun.
How do you pronounce reefer?
Reefer is pronounced /ˈɹiːfɚ/ (US).
What is the plural of reefer?
The plural of reefer is reefers.

Words near reefer in the dictionary

  1. reefage
  2. reefal
  3. reefband
  4. reefbands
  5. reefed
  6. reefer
  7. reefer jacket
  8. reefer jackets
  9. reefer unit
  10. reefer's nut
  11. reefer's nuts

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: reefer (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-US-reefer.wav, En-au-reefer.ogg.

Cite this entry: “reefer.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/reefer. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.