featherbed
Americanverb (used with or without object)
Etymology
Origin of featherbed
First recorded in 1945–50; back formation from featherbedding
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
The lights flickered on and weightlessness returned, cradling me like a featherbed.
From Nature ● Oct. 17, 2017
“The program has also become a kind of featherbed for parents who might have, in the past, considered redshirting their children.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 26, 2016
The pitch for that match was a slow featherbed which contributed to a bore draw.
From The Guardian ● May 19, 2013
Bit worried, the pitch looks a featherbed without Mitchy bowling on it.
From BBC ● Dec. 17, 2010
It would feel good to sleep on a featherbed again, with a warm fire in the hearth; when she was rested the world would seem less bleak.
From "A Clash of Kings" by George R.R. Martin
Commuters have been "featherbedded" but other passengers have been hit hard, Doe argues.
From BBC ● Jan. 22, 2013
A solid pension, good connections, membership of the right clubs, a contented, featherbedded old age.
From The Guardian ● Dec. 21, 2012
The couple's action-packed lifestyle comes thanks to their erstwhile employer, telecom company Pacific Bell, which featherbedded them into early retirement.
From Time ● Jun. 11, 2011
Many of the overseas systems are operated partly as make-work projects and are featherbedded to an extent that would shock even a U.S. rail unionist.
From Time Magazine Archive
So far, the government has been unwilling to enforce a five-year-old bankruptcy law that would require the firms to cut featherbedded staffs and losses.
From Time Magazine Archive
This full-employment plan for kooks and hucksters gives new meaning to featherbedding.
From Washington Post ● Sep. 16, 2022
We can certainly find lots of instances of journalistic corruption -- fake quotes, fabricated stories, featherbedding etc.
From Fox News ● Sep. 16, 2020
The police have not defined their costs, and without a clear accounting of them, Wittenberg and other race promoters say they could end up becoming a victim of featherbedding.
From New York Times ● Feb. 9, 2011
When every joke about your business mentions featherbedding, you should be worried about outsourcing.
From Economist ● Dec. 16, 2010
In the Soviet complex the labor unions were in no position to block the introduction of ultra-efficient methods, and featherbedding was unheard of.
From Combat by Mack Reynolds
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
