a piece of fabric made of plaited or woven rushes, straw, hemp, or similar fiber, or of some other pliant material, as rubber, used as a protective covering on a floor or other surface, to wipe the shoes on, etc.
a smaller piece of material, often ornamental, set under a dish of food, a lamp, vase, etc.
Sports.
the padded canvas covering the entire floor of a wrestling ring, for protecting the contestants from injury when thrown.
a thick pad placed on the floor for the protection of tumblers and others engaged in gymnastic sports.
a thickly growing or thick and tangled mass, as of hair or weeds.
a sack made of matting, as for coffee or sugar.
Building Trades.
a slablike footing of concrete, especially one for an entire building.
a heavy mesh reinforcement for a concrete slab.
to cover with or as if with mats or matting.
to form into a mat, as by interweaving.
the intaglio, usually of papiermâché, impressed from type or a cut, from which a stereotype plate is cast.
matins.
maturity.
a thick flat piece of fabric used as a floor covering, a place to wipe one's shoes, etc
a smaller pad of material used to protect a surface from the heat, scratches, etc, of an object placed upon it
a large piece of thick padded material put on the floor as a surface for wrestling, judo, or gymnastic sports
a Māori cloak
to abandon urban civilization
any surface or mass that is densely interwoven or tangled
a mat of grass and weeds
the solid part of a lace design
a heavy net of cable or rope laid over a blasting site to prevent the scatter of debris
a heavy mesh of reinforcement in a concrete slab
(esp US) a steel or concrete raft serving as a footing to support a post
civil engineering short for mattress
to tangle or weave or become tangled or woven into a dense mass
(tr) to cover with a mat or mats
a border of cardboard, cloth, etc, placed around a picture to act as a frame or as a contrast between picture and frame
a surface, as on metal or paint
to furnish (a picture) with a mat
to give (a surface) a mat finish
First recorded before 900; Middle English mat(te), Old English matt, matta, matte, from Late Latin matta “mat (of rushes),” from a Semitic language; compare Phoenician maṭṭa, Hebrew miṭṭāh “bed”
First recorded in 1845–50; apparently mat 1, influenced by matte 1
First recorded in 1920–25; shortened form of matrix
When you walk into someone else's house, it's polite to wipe your feet on the mat — the pad that covers part of the floor inside the front door. A mat is a kind of floor covering, often smaller than a rug or carpet. You might buy a sea grass mat to put in your bedroom, or a door mat for your apartment entryway. You can also use the word mat as a verb, to mean tangle or snarl: "The dog managed to mat the fur on his belly by rolling around on the beach." The Old English matte came from the Latin word matta, "mat made of rushes."
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
"The guinea pig stood on what appeared to be a very thick mat of mud which I believe to be very old, ground down, compacted faeces."
From BBC ● Aug. 14, 2026
And there, tucked away in a corner and covered by a baby changing mat, was a blue barrel.
From BBC ● Aug. 6, 2026
We alternated between mat and barre work, using light weights and an exercise strap and ball.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 28, 2026
“The floor mat stretches act like assisted yoga, which is incredible for restoring joint mobility after a long haul.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 21, 2026
She had calabashes of water and boiled marula juice, a pot of toasted grasshoppers, a basket of tsenza roots, and a small grass mat covered with ripe bramble berries.
From "A Girl Named Disaster" by Nancy Farmer
“He told me to go to the back of the building and next to the dumpster there would be a rubber mat. Look under it,” she recalls him telling her.
From Salon ● Jul. 26, 2025
"You know, we're lucky that we have access to shelter. They have fans in there and we get a mat. So that helps a lot."
From BBC ● Jul. 18, 2023
“I did a lot of laying on the mat. I felt like I was a top athlete, but they destroyed me.”
From New York Times ● Apr. 25, 2023
"We were not on the ropes. We were not on the mat. We were in the center ring slugging away, and we just ran out of time."
From Fox News ● Mar. 19, 2022
Vailati, Rivista di mat. vol. iv. and Russell, loc. cit.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 11, Slice 6 "Geodesy" to "Geometry" by Various
Insurers are starting to pressure providers to use medication assisted treatment, or M.A.T.
From New York Times ● Dec. 29, 2018
“You’ve got these two warring factions — the M.A.T. side and the abstinence-based side,” he said.
From New York Times ● Dec. 29, 2018
M.A.T. and J.W.M.G. performed and analysed worm experiments under the supervision of J.M.A.T.;
From Nature ● Nov. 28, 2017
The committee urged that even greater stress be placed on a full doctoral program, rather than the M.A.T.
From Time Magazine Archive
Charlie Sands, who is on a newspaper, calls us either the "M.A.T." or the "B.A.'s," for "Beloved Aunts," although Aggie and I are not related to him.
From Tish by Mary Roberts Rinehart
The schoolhouse is a dull, matted red, as are other architectural elements.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 31, 2025
Keeping dogs and other furry animals like cats well-groomed prevents the build-up of matted fur, which can make it harder for them to stay cool.
From BBC ● Aug. 12, 2025
Tattered curtains, matted carpets and missing shower heads were replaced.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 15, 2024
As erosion slows, marsh and streamside vegetation is rebounding and putting down densely matted root systems that can increasingly stand firm against flooding, or surging waves.
From Science Daily ● Jan. 31, 2024
“Do it,” said the stranger standing nearest to Harry, a big, rangy man with matted gray hair and whiskers, whose black Death Eater’s robes looked uncomfortably tight.
From "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" by J.K. Rowling
Wearing skullcaps, about 60 kneeled in the sun on green matting spread over bits of scrubby brown vegetation.
From Seattle Times ● Dec. 20, 2023
The agency also concluded that FF9 Pictures Ltd. failed to extend the crash matting “needed to mitigate the consequences of an unintended fall” after changes were made to the stunt sequence and set.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 27, 2023
An England XI featuring Nasser Hussain and Alec Stewart lost by three runs chasing 177 in Amstelveen in 1989 on a sodden matting pitch.
From BBC ● Nov. 7, 2023
Families pick the type of frame and matting and then a professional framer gets started.
From New York Times ● Oct. 8, 2022
“We have our money still, the pots and matting can be replaced.”
From "Nectar in a Sieve" by Kamala Markandaya
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.
