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• pad
  pad

  noun

  a cushionlike mass of soft material used for comfort, protection, or stuffing.
• PaD
  PaD

  abbreviation

  Pennsylvania Dutch.

pad

¹ American  

[pad] / pæd /

noun

1. a cushionlike mass of soft material used for comfort, protection, or stuffing.

2. a soft, stuffed cushion used as a saddle; a padded leather saddle without a tree.

3. a number of sheets of paper glued or otherwise held together at one edge to form a tablet.

4. a soft, ink-soaked block of absorbent material for inking a rubber stamp.

5. Anatomy, Zoology. any fleshy mass of tissue that cushions a weight-bearing part of the body, as on the underside of a paw.

6. the foot, as of a fox, hare, or wolf.

7. a piece or fold of gauze or other absorbent material for use as a surgical dressing or a protective covering.

8. Zoology. a pulvillus, as on the tarsus or foot of an insect.

9. a lily pad.

10. Rocketry. launch pad.

11. Slang.

    1. one's living quarters, as an apartment or room.

    2. one's bed.

    3. a room where people gather to take narcotics; an addicts' den.

12. Slang.

    1. money paid as a bribe to and shared among police officers, as for ignoring law violations.

    2. a list of police officers receiving such money.

13. Electricity. a nonadjustable attenuator consisting of a network of fixed resistors.

14. Shipbuilding.

    1. a metal plate riveted or welded to a surface as a base or attachment for bolts, hooks, eyes, etc.

    2. a piece of wood laid on the back of a deck beam to give the deck surface a desired amount of camber.

15. Carpentry.

    1. a handle for holding various small, interchangeable saw blades.

    2. Also a socket in a brace for a bit.

16. Metallurgy. a raised surface on a casting.

17. a small deposit of weld metal, as for building up a worn surface.

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verb (used with object)

padded, padding

1. to furnish, protect, fill out, or stuff with a pad or padding.

2. to expand or add to unnecessarily or dishonestly.

   to pad a speech; to pad an expense account.

3. Metallurgy. to add metal to (a casting) above its required dimensions, to insure the flow of enough metal to all parts.

verb (used without object)

padded, padding

1. to insure the proper forging of a piece.

idioms

1. on the pad, (of a police officer) receiving a bribe, especially on a regular basis.

pad ² American  

[pad] / pæd /

noun

1. a dull, muffled sound, as of footsteps on the ground.

2. a road horse, as distinguished from a hunting or working horse.

3. a highwayman.

4. British Dialect. a path, lane, or road.

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verb (used with object)

padded, padding

1. to travel along on foot.

2. to beat down by treading.

verb (used without object)

padded, padding

1. to travel on foot; walk.

2. to walk so that one's footsteps make a dull, muffled sound.

PaD ³ American  

abbreviation

1. Pennsylvania Dutch.

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pad ¹ British  

/ pæd /

noun

1. a thick piece of soft material used to make something comfortable, give it shape, or protect it

2. a guard made of flexible resilient material worn in various sports to protect parts of the body

3. Also called: stamp pad.   ink pad.  a block of firm absorbent material soaked with ink for transferring to a rubber stamp

4. Also called: notepad.   writing pad.  a number of sheets of paper fastened together along one edge

5. a flat piece of stiff material used to back a piece of blotting paper

6. 1. the fleshy cushion-like underpart of the foot of a cat, dog, etc

   2. any of the parts constituting such a structure

7. any of various level surfaces or flat-topped structures, such as a launch pad

8. entomol a nontechnical name for pulvillus

9. the large flat floating leaf of the water lily

10. electronics a resistive attenuator network inserted in the path of a signal to reduce amplitude or to match one circuit to another

11. slang a person's residence

12. slang a bed or bedroom

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verb

1. to line, stuff, or fill out with soft material, esp in order to protect or give shape to

2. (often foll by out) to inflate with irrelevant or false information

   to pad out a story

pad ² British  

/ pæd /

verb

1. (intr; often foll by along, up, etc) to walk with a soft or muffled tread

2. to travel (a route) on foot, esp at a slow pace; tramp

   to pad around the country

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noun

1. a dull soft sound, esp of footsteps

2. archaic short for footpad

3. archaic a slow-paced horse; nag

4. a path or track

   a cattle pad

Etymology

Origin of pad¹

First recorded in 1550–60; originally special uses of obsolete pad “bundle to lie on,” perhaps a blend of pack ¹ and bed

Origin of pad²

First recorded in 1545–55; noun from Middle Dutch or Low German pad “path” (originally thieves' and beggars' slang); hence, apparently, “highwayman” and “horse”); verb from Middle Dutch padden “to make or follow a path,” cognate with Old English pæththan “to traverse,” derivative of pæth; see origin at path ( def. ); pad ² defs. 1, 8 perhaps represent an independent expressive word that has been influenced by other senses

Explanation

A pad is a soft cushion or mat that protects or supports something. Football players wear pads to keep their bodies from being injured, and you may sit on a pad to cushion your bottom. A thick cotton bandage is one kind of pad, and your mattress might be topped by another kind of pad. There's also the soft, cushion-like pad on the bottom of an animal's paws as well as the fleshy part of your own fingertips. There are numerous other pads, including ink pads and helicopter landing pads, and — informally — your cool apartment, or pad. When you pad something, you stuff it, cushion it, or fill it out.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

pad padded padding

You can then progress to standing on a folded towel or foam pad.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 16, 2026

With eyes around the globe focused on North America this summer, the World Cup was a great launch pad for many players' personal brands.

From BBC ● Aug. 15, 2026

“So I’d give everybody a yellow legal pad and Sue would start telling stories,” Camerieri continues.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 4, 2026

An empty steel canister sat on a cleared drill pad, waiting to go down a second hole this year.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 28, 2026

Coal pretended to have made the team and went to every practice, but instead he took his sketch pad out and started drawing on the side of the field.

From "Boy 2.0" by Tracey Baptiste

“Tragically, a southern pacific rattlesnake was hiding under the brown padded envelope and bit Addy’s left hand,” the family wrote on the fundraising page.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 21, 2026

Fraudsters can be in search of higher pay from padded credentials or may have more sophisticated schemes in mind, like gaining access to company data.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 15, 2026

His young daughter, Kim Ju Ae, has also worn a Dior padded jacket to an intercontinental ballistic missile launch.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 10, 2026

She cocked her head, padded cautiously across the patio, and hid beneath a chair.

From Slate ● Jun. 20, 2026

The black dog padded over from the bedside and licked Zeke’s hand.

From "Chronicles of a Lizard Nobody" by Patrick Ness

To her, lily padding is the future of work, not just a trend, as people who follow the tactic try to reach more senior roles and higher pay.

From BBC ● Jul. 14, 2026

To achieve a similar impact, Johnson appears to be wearing a muscular silicone suit over his 6-foot-5 frame, but the extra padding just makes his head look puny.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 9, 2026

There was Molly Hollis, a middle-aged, Midwestern former schoolteacher whose creation required body padding and a wig; a flamboyant redhead; a nearly invisible elderly woman; and, most uncannily, Reichl’s own mother.

From Salon ● Jul. 5, 2026

Mexico, and Canada over the next month—already may be padding Nike’s pockets through wholesale distribution.

From Barron's ● Jun. 10, 2026

I brace myself when I hear Miss Celia’s feet padding through the house.

From "The Help" by Kathryn Stockett

Related Words

• augment
• embellish
• fudge
• inflate
• overstate