mattress
[ma-tris]
- a large pad for supporting the reclining body, used as or on a bed, consisting of a quilted or similarly fastened case, usually of heavy cloth, that contains hair, straw, cotton, foam rubber, etc., or a framework of metal springs.
- air mattress.
- a mat woven of brush, poles, or similar material, used to prevent erosion of the surface of dikes, jetties, embankments, dams, etc.
- a layer of concrete placed on bare ground, as to provide a footing; mat.
- a layer of any material used to cushion, protect, reinforce, or the like.
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Origin of mattress
1250–1300; Middle English materas < Old French < Italian materasso < Arabic maṭraḥ mat, cushion
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for mattress
Contemporary Examples
Matthew complained about his jail-issued coveralls and the mattress in his cell after he was captured in Texas.
You tell Hassan to have the Iraqi army soldiers check the mattress.
Whatever You Do Someone Will Die. A Short Story About Impossible Choices in IraqNathan Bradley Bethea
August 31, 2014
The mother unties the palm staves from the mattress, then takes the nylon ropes and ties the mattress to the boat.
Whatever You Do Someone Will Die. A Short Story About Impossible Choices in IraqNathan Bradley Bethea
August 31, 2014
The mattress causes the boat to tip forward, and in the ensuing rocking the boat begins to take on water.
Whatever You Do Someone Will Die. A Short Story About Impossible Choices in IraqNathan Bradley Bethea
August 31, 2014
The four of them move to the boat, right it, balance the mattress across its bow and shove it towards the water.
Whatever You Do Someone Will Die. A Short Story About Impossible Choices in IraqNathan Bradley Bethea
August 31, 2014
Historical Examples
The shirt was clotted with blood; so were the mattress under him and the floor.
The UnderdogF. Hopkinson Smith
They put a mattress in the bottom of the cart, and plenty of blankets.
Heather and SnowGeorge MacDonald
These filthy animals got fatter and fatter, then they jumped onto the mattress and disappeared.
L'AssommoirEmile Zola
When the mattress was empty she got thirty sous for the sack so as to be able to have coffee.
L'AssommoirEmile Zola
Etienne could sleep in the shop, on a mattress on the floor, that was all.
L'AssommoirEmile Zola
mattress
- a large flat pad with a strong cover, filled with straw, foam rubber, etc, and often incorporating coiled springs, used as a bed or as part of a bed
- Also called: Dutch mattress a woven mat of brushwood, poles, etc, used to protect an embankment, dyke, etc, from scour
- a concrete or steel raft or slab used as a foundation or footingSometimes shortened to: mat
- a network of reinforcing rods or expanded metal sheeting, used in reinforced concrete
- civil engineering another name for blinding (def. 3)
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Word Origin
C13: via Old French from Italian materasso, from Arabic almatrah place where something is thrown
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for mattress
n.
late 13c., from Old French materas (12c., Modern French matelas), from Italian materasso and directly from Medieval Latin matracium, borrowed in Sicily from Arabic al-matrah "the cushion" (cf. Spanish almadraque "mattress," Provençal almatrac), literally "the thing thrown down," from taraha "he threw (down)."
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper