1. a worker, especially a young girl or woman, who removes full bobbins of thread or yarn from spinning frames in a textile mill
Usage: historical; chiefly U.S.; often used in the context of 19th and early 20th century New England textile industry

Examples

• In the 1800s, many young girls worked as doffers in the cotton mills of Massachusetts.
• The doffer's job was to replace empty bobbins with full ones on the spinning frame.
• Doffers were among the lowest-paid workers in the textile factories.
• She started as a doffer at age twelve and worked her way up to a better position.
• The mill employed hundreds of doffers to keep the spinning frames running continuously.