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cushion
[ koosh-uhn ]
noun
- a soft bag of cloth, leather, or rubber, filled with feathers, air, foam rubber, etc., on which to sit, kneel, or lie.
Synonyms: pad
- anything similar in form, used to dampen shocks or to prevent excessive pressure or chafing.
- something to absorb or counteract a shock, jar, or jolt, as a body of air or steam.
Synonyms: shock absorber
- something that lessens the effects of hardship, distress, or the like:
His inheritance was a cushion against unemployment.
- Anatomy, Zoology. any part or structure resembling a cushion.
- the resilient raised rim encircling the top of a billiard table.
- a pad worn under the hair by women.
- a portion of a radio or television script that can be adjusted in length or cut out altogether in order to end the program on time.
- Ice Hockey, Canadian. the iced surface of a rink.
- a pillow used in lacemaking.
- a leather pad on which gold leaf is placed preparatory to gilding.
verb (used with object)
- to place on or support by a cushion.
- to furnish with a cushion or cushions.
- to cover or conceal with, or as if with, a cushion.
- to lessen or soften the effects of:
to cushion the blow to his pride.
- to suppress (complaints, lamentations, etc.) by quietly ignoring.
- to check the motion of (a piston or the like) by a cushion, as of steam.
- to form (steam or the like) into a cushion.
cushion
/ ˈkʊʃən /
noun
- a bag made of cloth, leather, plastic, etc, filled with feathers, air, or other yielding substance, used for sitting on, leaning against, etc
- something resembling a cushion in function or appearance, esp one to support or pad or to absorb shock
- the resilient felt-covered rim of a billiard table
- See pillowanother name for pillow
- See air cushionshort for air cushion
- a capital, used in Byzantine, Romanesque, and Norman architecture, in the form of a bowl with a square top
verb
- to place on or as on a cushion
- to provide with cushions
- to lessen or suppress the effects of
- to protect, esp against hardship or change
- to check the motion of (a mechanism) gently, esp by the compression of trapped fluid in a cylinder
- to provide with a means of absorbing shock
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Derived Forms
- ˈcushiony, adjective
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Other Words From
- cushion·less adjective
- cushion·like adjective
- un·cushioned adjective
- well-cushioned adjective
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Word History and Origins
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Word History and Origins
Origin of cushion1
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Synonym Study
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Example Sentences
His bandaged leg rests, slightly elevated, on a bloodstained cushion borrowed from a couch.
I could give my parents this relief, this cushion that they never had.
Instead, she has reportedly narrowed the choice down to cushion-cut diamonds, over five carats, priced at $100,000 or more.
I said that if the process ever breaks down, we will not have build up any relationships that could possibly cushion the blow.
Holding down the seat cushion, the Sullivans imagine Alex is there.
A few scratches here and there marred the polish of the frame and one cushion had sustained an ugly rent.
Jess made a cushion for it out of grass and laid it on top of the kettle full of treasures.
Having uttered these words he made a sign to his treasurer who presented on a cushion a crown of gold to the young girl.
Then as suddenly she turned around and came back, and very carefully shoved a cushion under the man's feet.
Its water in a general way moves as does a billiard ball when it flies from one cushion to another.
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