Definition of "doffer"

(textile manufacturing) In a carding machine, a device such as a revolving cylinder or a vibrating bar with teeth, that doffs, that is to say strips off, the carded cotton or other fiber from the cards; or a hand tool for the same function in smaller machines or in manual carding.  examples

A worker who replaces full bobbins by empty ones on the throstle or ring frames. The job was often done by children.  quotations  examples