bedpost

[ bed-pohst ]

/ ˈbɛdˌpoʊst /

noun

one of the upright supports of a bedstead.

bedposts, Bowling. a split in which the seven and ten pins remain standing.

Nearby words

bednorz, johannes georg, bedouin, bedpad, bedpan, bedplate, bedpost, bedquilt, bedrabble, bedraggle, bedraggled, bedrail

Origin of bedpost

First recorded in 1590–1600; bed + post¹

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for bedpost

But a dashing, magnetic fifty-eight-year-old matinee idol with three ex-wives notched on his bedpost?
How to Get Over Cary Grant|Kara Cutruzzula|September 25, 2011|DAILY BEAST
If there's a worm in every hole in that bedpost, we could go into the fish business.
When a Man Marries|Mary Roberts Rinehart
She moved instinctively to clutch a bedpost to steady herself, and as she did so her foot touched something soft.
A Fourth Form Friendship|Angela Brazil
The idea of scouting around where there are plenty of enemies, with nothing but a bedpost as a weapon.
The Boy Spies of Philadelphia|James Otis

Straightway she takes from her bosom Lisa's handkerchief, which she found hanging over Rodolpho's bedpost.
The Complete Opera Book|Gustav Kobb
She unhooked her vanity bag from the bedpost, rooted in it, shook it, turned it inside out.
Bliss, and Other Stories|Katherine Mansfield

British Dictionary definitions for bedpost

bedpost

/ (ˈbɛdˌpəʊst) /

noun

any of the four vertical supports at the corners of a bedstead

between you and me and the bedpost informal confidentially; in secret

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

Word Origin and History for bedpost

bedpost

also bed-post, 1590s, from bed (n.) + post (n.1).