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:
Although the pitch seems like a featherbed now, there is a suggestion of low bounce and turn.
From BBC ● Jun. 16, 2023
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
It was that shortage of variety that led Notts to gamble on a result pitch here, when a draw on a featherbed would have better-suited their title challenge.
From The Guardian ● Sep. 7, 2010
He was sleeping when Catelyn entered, his hair and beard as white as his featherbed, his once portly frame turned small and frail by the death that grew within him.
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
The trigger was a Frondizi bill, passed by Congress, giving the government permission to sell or lease a featherbedded, government-owned meatpacking plant.
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
No featherbedding, I was told, like our roads unfortunately have.
From Epistles from Pap: Letters from the man known as 'The Will Rogers of Indiana' by Hay, Douglas (Douglas N.)
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.
