matted1
Origin of matted1
matted2
- having a dull finish; matte.
Origin of matted2
mat1
- 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.
- 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.
- to become entangled; form tangled masses.
- go to the mat, to contend or struggle in a determined or unyielding way: The president is going to the mat with Congress over the proposed budget cuts.
Origin of mat1
matt
matte1
or mat, matt
- having a dull or lusterless surface: matte paint; a matte complexion; a photograph with a matte finish.
- a dull or dead surface, often slightly roughened, as on metals, paint, paper, or glass.
- a tool for producing such a surface.
- Metallurgy. an unfinished metallic product of the smelting of certain sulfide ores, especially those of copper.
- Movies. matte shot.
- to finish with a matte surface.
Origin of matte1
mat2
- a piece of cardboard or other material placed over or under a drawing, painting, photograph, etc., to serve as a frame or provide a border between the picture and the frame.
- to provide (a picture) with a mat.
Origin of mat2
mat3
Examples from the Web for matted
Contemporary Examples
Salama al Sersawi leans on a bench, waiting to get his mound of matted hair reined in.
From within the tufts of matted hair, the creature released a huge pale cock that defied logic.
Above the matted hair that concealed the jaws and cheeks, blue eyes stared out of cavernous sockets.
Historical Examples
Patches of it grew thick on the high ridges, matted close for cover.
The Trail BookMary Austin
His hair and beard hung long and matted over his broad shoulders.
Leila, CompleteEdward Bulwer-Lytton
The hair was wet and matted and prickly leaves were stuck in it.
Pee-wee HarrisPercy Keese Fitzhugh
Her hair, streaming down in a sodden mass, was matted with blood.
The World BeyondRaymond King Cummings
The masts rose from that chaos like big trees above a matted undergrowth.
YouthJoseph Conrad
matted
- tangled into a thick massmatted hair
- covered with or formed of matting
matt
matte
- variant spellings of mat 2 (def. 2), mat 1 (def. 3), mat 2 (def. 5)
matte1
- an impure fused material consisting of metal sulphides produced during the smelting of a sulphide ore
Word Origin
matte2
- films television a mask used to blank out part of an image so that another image can be superimposed
mat1
- 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
- NZ a Māori cloak
- go back to the mat NZ to abandon urban civilization
- any surface or mass that is densely interwoven or tangleda 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 (def. 3)
- to tangle or weave or become tangled or woven into a dense mass
- (tr) to cover with a mat or mats
Word Origin
mat2
- 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
- having a dull, lustreless, or roughened surface
- to furnish (a picture) with a mat
- to give (a surface) a mat finish
Word Origin
mat3
- printing informal short for matrix (def. 5)
Word Origin and History for matted
adj.
"tangled and lying flat" (of hair, etc.), 1610s, past participle adjective from mat (v.).
mat
n.2
"sheet of backing material," 1845, from French mat "dull surface or finish" (15c.), noun use of Old French mat (adj.); see mat (adj.).
mat
v.
early 15c., "to make mats," from mat (n.1). From 1540s as "to provide with mats, to cover with mats;" meaning "to become tangled" is from 1570s. Related: Matted; matting.
matte
n.
"backing for a picture," 1845, from French; see mat (n.2).
matte
n.
variant of mat (n.2).
mat
n.1
loosely joined natural materials used as bedding, etc., Old English matte, from Late Latin matta "mat made of rushes" (4c.), probably from Punic or Phoenician matta (cf. Hebrew mittah "bed, couch"). Meaning "tangled mass" is from 1835. That of "piece of padded flooring used in gymnastics or wrestling" is attested from 1892; hence figurative phrase go to the mat "do battle" (1910). The Latin word also is the source of German Matte, matze; Dutch mat, Italian matta. French natte "mat, matting" is from Late Latin secondary form natta (cf. napkin).
mat
adj.
1640s, "lusterless, dull" (of a color or surface), from French mat "dull, dead surface," from Old French mat "beaten down, withered, afflicted, dejected; dull," which is perhaps from Latin mattus "maudlin with drink," from madere "to be wet or sodden, be drunk," from PIE root *mad- "to be wet, drip" (see mast (n.2)). Or the French word might represent a transferred use from chess of mater "to checkmate, defeat," from Arabic (see mate (v.2)).
Idioms and Phrases with matted
mat
see go to the mat; welcome mat.