mattress
Americannoun
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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.
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a mat woven of brush, poles, or similar material, used to prevent erosion of the surface of dikes, jetties, embankments, dams, etc.
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a layer of concrete placed on bare ground, as to provide a footing; mat.
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a layer of any material used to cushion, protect, reinforce, or the like.
noun
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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
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Also called: Dutch mattress. a woven mat of brushwood, poles, etc, used to protect an embankment, dyke, etc, from scour
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Sometimes shortened to: mat. a concrete or steel raft or slab used as a foundation or footing
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a network of reinforcing rods or expanded metal sheeting, used in reinforced concrete
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civil engineering another name for blinding
Etymology
Origin of mattress
1250–1300; Middle English materas < Old French < Italian materasso < Arabic maṭraḥ mat, cushion
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.
Cavill co-founded a company that uses a wristband to predict women’s hot flashes, paired with a cooling mattress pad, so she knows a thing or two about sensors.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 28, 2026
She has been sleeping on a mattress on a classroom floor for months after fleeing her now destroyed border village after the previous hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah erupted.
From Barron's • Mar. 25, 2026
The room was so small, they had to take turns if they wanted to lie down, and placed a piece of cardboard over a sewer hole as a makeshift mattress.
From BBC • Mar. 4, 2026
“We’re looking good,” she said, knocking on her wooden bedframe and testing the mattress.
From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 6, 2026
You try spending the night on a mattress of hatpins and pearls.
From "Secrets at Sea" by Richard Peck
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.
