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• pad
  pad

  noun

  a cushionlike mass of soft material used for comfort, protection, or stuffing.
• PaD
  PaD

  abbreviation

  Pennsylvania Dutch.

pad

¹ American  

[pad] / pæd /

noun

1. a cushionlike mass of soft material used for comfort, protection, or stuffing.

2. a soft, stuffed cushion used as a saddle; a padded leather saddle without a tree.

3. a number of sheets of paper glued or otherwise held together at one edge to form a tablet.

4. a soft, ink-soaked block of absorbent material for inking a rubber stamp.

5. Anatomy, Zoology. any fleshy mass of tissue that cushions a weight-bearing part of the body, as on the underside of a paw.

6. the foot, as of a fox, hare, or wolf.

7. a piece or fold of gauze or other absorbent material for use as a surgical dressing or a protective covering.

8. Zoology. a pulvillus, as on the tarsus or foot of an insect.

9. a lily pad.

10. Rocketry. launch pad.

11. Slang.

    1. one's living quarters, as an apartment or room.

    2. one's bed.

    3. a room where people gather to take narcotics; an addicts' den.

12. Slang.

    1. money paid as a bribe to and shared among police officers, as for ignoring law violations.

    2. a list of police officers receiving such money.

13. Electricity. a nonadjustable attenuator consisting of a network of fixed resistors.

14. Shipbuilding.

    1. a metal plate riveted or welded to a surface as a base or attachment for bolts, hooks, eyes, etc.

    2. a piece of wood laid on the back of a deck beam to give the deck surface a desired amount of camber.

15. Carpentry.

    1. a handle for holding various small, interchangeable saw blades.

    2. Also a socket in a brace for a bit.

16. Metallurgy. a raised surface on a casting.

17. a small deposit of weld metal, as for building up a worn surface.

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verb (used with object)

padded, padding

1. to furnish, protect, fill out, or stuff with a pad or padding.

2. to expand or add to unnecessarily or dishonestly.

   to pad a speech; to pad an expense account.

3. Metallurgy. to add metal to (a casting) above its required dimensions, to insure the flow of enough metal to all parts.

verb (used without object)

padded, padding

1. to insure the proper forging of a piece.

idioms

1. on the pad, (of a police officer) receiving a bribe, especially on a regular basis.

pad ² American  

[pad] / pæd /

noun

1. a dull, muffled sound, as of footsteps on the ground.

2. a road horse, as distinguished from a hunting or working horse.

3. a highwayman.

4. British Dialect. a path, lane, or road.

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verb (used with object)

padded, padding

1. to travel along on foot.

2. to beat down by treading.

verb (used without object)

padded, padding

1. to travel on foot; walk.

2. to walk so that one's footsteps make a dull, muffled sound.

PaD ³ American  

abbreviation

1. Pennsylvania Dutch.

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pad ¹ British  

/ pæd /

noun

1. a thick piece of soft material used to make something comfortable, give it shape, or protect it

2. a guard made of flexible resilient material worn in various sports to protect parts of the body

3. Also called: stamp pad, ink pad. a block of firm absorbent material soaked with ink for transferring to a rubber stamp

4. Also called: notepad, writing pad. a number of sheets of paper fastened together along one edge

5. a flat piece of stiff material used to back a piece of blotting paper

6. 1. the fleshy cushion-like underpart of the foot of a cat, dog, etc

   2. any of the parts constituting such a structure

7. any of various level surfaces or flat-topped structures, such as a launch pad

8. entomol a nontechnical name for pulvillus

9. the large flat floating leaf of the water lily

10. electronics a resistive attenuator network inserted in the path of a signal to reduce amplitude or to match one circuit to another

11. slang a person's residence

12. slang a bed or bedroom

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verb

1. to line, stuff, or fill out with soft material, esp in order to protect or give shape to

2. (often foll by out) to inflate with irrelevant or false information

   to pad out a story

pad ² British  

/ pæd /

verb

1. (intr; often foll by along, up, etc) to walk with a soft or muffled tread

2. to travel (a route) on foot, esp at a slow pace; tramp

   to pad around the country

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noun

1. a dull soft sound, esp of footsteps

2. archaic short for footpad

3. archaic a slow-paced horse; nag

4. a path or track

   a cattle pad

Etymology

Origin of pad¹

First recorded in 1550–60; originally special uses of obsolete pad “bundle to lie on,” perhaps a blend of pack ¹ and bed

Origin of pad²

First recorded in 1545–55; noun from Middle Dutch or Low German pad “path” (originally thieves' and beggars' slang); hence, apparently, “highwayman” and “horse”); verb from Middle Dutch padden “to make or follow a path,” cognate with Old English pæththan “to traverse,” derivative of pæth; see origin at path ( def. ); pad ² defs. 1, 8 perhaps represent an independent expressive word that has been influenced by other senses

Explanation

A pad is a soft cushion or mat that protects or supports something. Football players wear pads to keep their bodies from being injured, and you may sit on a pad to cushion your bottom. A thick cotton bandage is one kind of pad, and your mattress might be topped by another kind of pad. There's also the soft, cushion-like pad on the bottom of an animal's paws as well as the fleshy part of your own fingertips. There are numerous other pads, including ink pads and helicopter landing pads, and — informally — your cool apartment, or pad. When you pad something, you stuff it, cushion it, or fill it out.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

pad padded padding

Misty carries herself imperiously, faking success with a Birkin bag and beachfront crash pad that belongs to a dead lover whose widow wants it back.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 7, 2026

Grüner Veltliner’s relatively high acidity, herbal-fruity profile and signature white pepper notes help it pair with everything from barbecue to mole to sashimi to pad thai to fried chicken.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 21, 2026

Trump pushed for a new granite helicopter landing pad on the White House South Lawn to be open in time for Xi's visit, which will include a grand state dinner.

From Barron's ● Sep. 17, 2026

“Expertly designed retaining walls expand the usable hillside pad, showcasing an understanding of form and function that mirrors the property’s disciplined calm.”

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 8, 2026

I follow him, my arms wrapped tightly around my sketch pad.

From "The Tenth Mistake of Hank Hooperman" by Gennifer Choldenko

Our job was to sort through the massive mailer box of padded envelopes and bubble mailers that came in from record labels, big, small and in-between.

From Salon ● Oct. 4, 2026

Fraudsters can be in search of higher pay from padded credentials or may have more sophisticated schemes in mind, like gaining access to company data.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 15, 2026

Blakesley said they padded out a rubble sack and tethered it to rope so it would float, before using a sample pole to gently nudge the eggs into the bag.

From BBC ● Jun. 23, 2026

He celebrated the affair wearing a spectacular getup largely sourced from Colombian fashion designer Adriana Kanal of KNL Style: padded, black-and-white wings over a latex vest, a fishnetted top and sky-high platform boots.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 9, 2026

“Ten routines on beam,” Aimee said, adjusting a foam mat at one end of the padded, four-inch-wide plank of suede-covered wood.

From "Courage to Soar" by Simone Biles

Arguably the damage might be less without all the padding, precisely because then your pain thresholds, and your bone fragility, limit how hard you can reasonably hit other players.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 30, 2026

And when one of us finally came padding down the wooden stairs, sleepy and rumpled and operating on a schedule she would never have personally endorsed, there was no reproach.

From Salon ● Aug. 31, 2026

“Do I need to hire more people? Is this going to slow down at all?” says Porter, who attributes the surge in part to stock-market gains padding boomers’ retirement savings.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 15, 2026

Yesterday, over 18 painstaking hours, teams of French and British conservators and British Museum staff unfurled the 70-metre long artwork from the folding stand where it had been concertinaed, surrounded by protective mattress-type padding.

From BBC ● Jul. 17, 2026

She shifted her body upon the sofa; I felt the padding warp.

From "The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume I: The Pox Party" by M.T. Anderson

Related Words

• augment
• embellish
• fudge
• inflate
• overstate