mattress

American  

[ma-tris] / ˈmæ trɪs /

noun

mattresses plural

1. a large pad for supporting the reclining body, used as or on a bed, consisting of a quilted or similarly fastened case, usually of heavy cloth, that contains hair, straw, cotton, foam rubber, etc., or a framework of metal springs.

2. air mattress.

3. a mat woven of brush, poles, or similar material, used to prevent erosion of the surface of dikes, jetties, embankments, dams, etc.

4. a layer of concrete placed on bare ground, as to provide a footing; mat.

5. a layer of any material used to cushion, protect, reinforce, or the like.

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mattress British  

/ ˈmætrɪs /

noun

1. a large flat pad with a strong cover, filled with straw, foam rubber, etc, and often incorporating coiled springs, used as a bed or as part of a bed

2. Also called: Dutch mattress.  a woven mat of brushwood, poles, etc, used to protect an embankment, dyke, etc, from scour

3. Sometimes shortened to: mat.  a concrete or steel raft or slab used as a foundation or footing

4. a network of reinforcing rods or expanded metal sheeting, used in reinforced concrete

5. civil engineering another name for blinding

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• mattresses
  plural

Etymology

Origin of mattress

1250–1300; Middle English materas < Old French < Italian materasso < Arabic maṭraḥ mat, cushion

Explanation

Your mattress is the padded part of your bed that rests on top of the frame or box springs and is covered in a sheet. Some people prefer a soft, squishy mattress, while others like their mattresses firm. Some mattresses have a system of springs inside to provide just the right amount of firmness and bounce when you lie on them. Others are made of a dense kind of foam that supports a sleeper's body comfortably. The earliest mattresses were filled with straw or horse hair, and in many societies people don't sleep on mattresses at all, instead using mats or futons. The Arabic root of mattress is al-matrah, "thing thrown down."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

mattress mattresses

That first week, we had a TV and a kind of makeshift conversation pit: a quilt, a mattress, some pillows.

From Salon ● Jul. 11, 2026

Japan wants to become an asset management superpower, funneling an estimated $7 trillion in mattress money and low-yielding bank accounts into its booming stock market.

From Barron's ● Jun. 25, 2026

Earlier this year, an old sofa, a bed frame and a mattress were just some of the items of fly-tipped rubbish dumped outside a boarded-up property in Ely.

From BBC ● Jun. 22, 2026

Bedrooms are also on track for technological upgrades, says Tim Dilworth, president of 3Z Brands, a Glendale, Ariz., mattress manufacturer.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 12, 2026

I lay down beside her on the bare mattress, and she was asleep in seconds.

From "The Light in Hidden Places" by Sharon Cameron

DONGGUAN, China—At a factory so big it could fit dozens of football fields, Chinese furniture manufacturer DeRucci churns out up to 5,000 mattresses a day.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 16, 2026

In fact, it’s a popular time for discounts, with deals on big-ticket items like mattresses, furniture and appliances.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 1, 2026

A country club in the town of Caraballeda in Venezuela has been turned into a makeshift hospital, with survivors of the country's devastating earthquakes receiving care and sleeping on mattresses on the grass.

From BBC ● Jun. 28, 2026

In Brazil, authorities alleged last year that some Chinese workers hired to build BYD’s factory worked seven days a week and slept on beds without mattresses.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 28, 2026

Their room was a pitiful mess of clothes, wet towels, orange peel, torn-up pieces of a comic arranged around a sheet of paper, upended chairs partly covered by blankets and the mattresses at a slew.

From "Atonement" by Ian McEwan

Related Words

• bed
• cushion
• pallet