feather bed

American  

noun

1. a mattress or a bed cover, as a quilt, stuffed with soft feathers.

---

feather bed British  

noun

1. a mattress filled with feathers or down

---

verb

1. (tr) to pamper; spoil

2. (intr) to be subject to or engage in featherbedding

Etymology

Origin of feather bed

before 1000; Middle English, Old English

Example Sentences

Serenading the car in the movie’s earworm, Oscar-nominated title song, she sings, “You’re sleek as a thoroughbred / Your seats are a feather bed / You’ll turn everybody’s head today.”

From Washington Post • Dec. 23, 2021

Guided tours take visitors through the antiques-filled parlor, the dining room and the master bedroom, comfortably appointed with a canopied feather bed and a commode masquerading as an easy chair.

From New York Times • Jan. 7, 2017

Each song tosses another blanket atop a feather bed, another log on a fire, a series of stories to send the imagination drifting as winter closes in.

From Chicago Tribune • Nov. 18, 2011

All these problems the President tackled with the verve of a man to whom travel is a tonic and a Clipper berth as restful as a feather bed.

From Time Magazine Archive

Half in her lap and half on the floor was an enormous feather bed.

From "Johnny Tremain" by Esther Hoskins Forbes