quilt

[ kwilt ]
See synonyms for quilt on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. a coverlet for a bed, made of two layers of fabric with some soft substance, as wool or down, between them and stitched in patterns or tufted through all thicknesses in order to prevent the filling from shifting.

  2. anything quilted or resembling a quilt.

  1. a bedspread or counterpane, especially a thick one.

  2. Obsolete. a mattress.

verb (used with object)
  1. to stitch together (two pieces of cloth and a soft interlining), usually in an ornamental pattern.

  2. to sew up between pieces of material.

  1. to pad or line with material.

verb (used without object)
  1. to make quilts or quilted work.

Origin of quilt

1
1250–1300; Middle English quilte<Old French cuilte<Latin culcita mattress, cushion

Other words from quilt

  • quilter, noun

Words Nearby quilt

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use quilt in a sentence

  • Zeal had undressed, extended himself on the bed, and covered his body with an eider-down quilt.

    Ancestors | Gertrude Atherton
  • His grandfather submitted, and Gwynne dropped his arm and rearranged the quilt over his cousin's body.

    Ancestors | Gertrude Atherton
  • Our attention was attracted to three or four windows that looked much like the crazy-quilt work that used to be in fashion.

  • He sat down on the side of the cheap, iron bedstead, and emptied his pockets on the top quilt.

    Cabin Fever | B. M. Bower
  • Above, in the lower lofts, every conceivable human oddity was assembled in a sort of mercantile crazy quilt.

    The Woman Gives | Owen Johnson

British Dictionary definitions for quilt

quilt

/ (kwɪlt) /


noun
  1. a thick warm cover for a bed, consisting of a soft filling sewn between two layers of material, usually with crisscross seams

  2. a bedspread or counterpane

  1. anything quilted or resembling a quilt

verb(tr)
  1. to stitch together (two pieces of fabric) with (a thick padding or lining) between them: to quilt cotton and wool

  2. to create (a garment, covering, etc) in this way

  1. to pad with material

  2. Australian informal to strike; clout

Origin of quilt

1
C13: from Old French coilte mattress, from Latin culcita stuffed item of bedding

Derived forms of quilt

  • quilter, noun

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012