a piece of fabric made of plaited or woven rushes, straw, hemp, or similar fiber, or of some other pliant material, as rubber, used as a protective covering on a floor or other surface, to wipe the shoes on, etc.
a smaller piece of material, often ornamental, set under a dish of food, a lamp, vase, etc.
Sports.
the padded canvas covering the entire floor of a wrestling ring, for protecting the contestants from injury when thrown.
a thick pad placed on the floor for the protection of tumblers and others engaged in gymnastic sports.
a thickly growing or thick and tangled mass, as of hair or weeds.
a sack made of matting, as for coffee or sugar.
Building Trades.
a slablike footing of concrete, especially one for an entire building.
a heavy mesh reinforcement for a concrete slab.
to cover with or as if with mats or matting.
to form into a mat, as by interweaving.
the intaglio, usually of papiermâché, impressed from type or a cut, from which a stereotype plate is cast.
matins.
maturity.
a thick flat piece of fabric used as a floor covering, a place to wipe one's shoes, etc
a smaller pad of material used to protect a surface from the heat, scratches, etc, of an object placed upon it
a large piece of thick padded material put on the floor as a surface for wrestling, judo, or gymnastic sports
a Māori cloak
to abandon urban civilization
any surface or mass that is densely interwoven or tangled
a mat of grass and weeds
the solid part of a lace design
a heavy net of cable or rope laid over a blasting site to prevent the scatter of debris
a heavy mesh of reinforcement in a concrete slab
(esp US) a steel or concrete raft serving as a footing to support a post
civil engineering short for mattress
to tangle or weave or become tangled or woven into a dense mass
(tr) to cover with a mat or mats
a border of cardboard, cloth, etc, placed around a picture to act as a frame or as a contrast between picture and frame
a surface, as on metal or paint
to furnish (a picture) with a mat
to give (a surface) a mat finish
First recorded before 900; Middle English mat(te), Old English matt, matta, matte, from Late Latin matta “mat (of rushes),” from a Semitic language; compare Phoenician maṭṭa, Hebrew miṭṭāh “bed”
First recorded in 1845–50; apparently mat 1, influenced by matte 1
First recorded in 1920–25; shortened form of matrix
When you walk into someone else's house, it's polite to wipe your feet on the mat — the pad that covers part of the floor inside the front door. A mat is a kind of floor covering, often smaller than a rug or carpet. You might buy a sea grass mat to put in your bedroom, or a door mat for your apartment entryway. You can also use the word mat as a verb, to mean tangle or snarl: "The dog managed to mat the fur on his belly by rolling around on the beach." The Old English matte came from the Latin word matta, "mat made of rushes."
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
“Wrestling is a unique sport in that it’s an individual sport, and you walk out on a mat and you win or lose, and it’s all about just you,” Hitschler said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 4, 2026
Carol Baxter, 64, gave D'Wit a job designing a website for her lucrative shower mat business and soon took the loner under her wing.
From BBC ● Aug. 21, 2026
We alternated between mat and barre work, using light weights and an exercise strap and ball.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 28, 2026
Sielsch drove to a home that had been burglarized by a bear to install an electric mat on the back porch.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 23, 2026
A sixth grader tumbles to the mat and has to join the spectators on the grass.
From "Linked" by Gordon Korman
“He told me to go to the back of the building and next to the dumpster there would be a rubber mat. Look under it,” she recalls him telling her.
From Salon ● Jul. 26, 2025
"You know, we're lucky that we have access to shelter. They have fans in there and we get a mat. So that helps a lot."
From BBC ● Jul. 18, 2023
“I did a lot of laying on the mat. I felt like I was a top athlete, but they destroyed me.”
From New York Times ● Apr. 25, 2023
“Leave it on the mat. You’re an amazing son.”
From Washington Post ● Jul. 30, 2021
Vailati, Rivista di mat. vol. iv. and Russell, loc. cit.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 11, Slice 6 "Geodesy" to "Geometry" by Various
Insurers are starting to pressure providers to use medication assisted treatment, or M.A.T.
From New York Times ● Dec. 29, 2018
“But too often you have to convince the caregivers, as well as the patients, that M.A.T. is the cornerstone.”
From New York Times ● Dec. 29, 2018
M.A.T. and J.W.M.G. performed and analysed worm experiments under the supervision of J.M.A.T.;
From Nature ● Nov. 28, 2017
The committee urged that even greater stress be placed on a full doctoral program, rather than the M.A.T.
From Time Magazine Archive
Charlie Sands, who is on a newspaper, calls us either the "M.A.T." or the "B.A.'s," for "Beloved Aunts," although Aggie and I are not related to him.
From Tish by Mary Roberts Rinehart
She said his fur was extremely matted and dirty, and although he was breathing, he was clearly distressed.
From BBC ● May 20, 2026
The schoolhouse is a dull, matted red, as are other architectural elements.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 31, 2025
To a matted poodle: “Sweet love, what are you?”
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 8, 2024
As erosion slows, marsh and streamside vegetation is rebounding and putting down densely matted root systems that can increasingly stand firm against flooding, or surging waves.
From Science Daily ● Jan. 31, 2024
Beneath her bright beaded keffiyeh, her tangle of black matted hair sticks out.
From "Without Refuge" by Jane Mitchell
The rabbits appeared well fed, but the majority are longhaired, meaning they should not have been kept outdoors and require daily brushing to avoid painful matting of the fur, Hadzimuratovic said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 4, 2024
It said the firm "did not extend the crash matting needed to mitigate the consequences of an unintended fall following changes to the set and the sequence of the stunt".
From BBC ● Nov. 24, 2023
Families pick the type of frame and matting and then a professional framer gets started.
From New York Times ● Oct. 8, 2022
Some of the bamboo matting gets moldy in spring and requires a scrub down.
From Seattle Times ● Sep. 15, 2022
I can weave and spin, or plait matting, but there is no money for spindle, cotton or fibre.
From "Nectar in a Sieve" by Kamala Markandaya
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
