a cushionlike mass of soft material used for comfort, protection, or stuffing.
a soft, stuffed cushion used as a saddle; a padded leather saddle without a tree.
a number of sheets of paper glued or otherwise held together at one edge to form a tablet.
a soft, ink-soaked block of absorbent material for inking a rubber stamp.
Anatomy, Zoology. any fleshy mass of tissue that cushions a weight-bearing part of the body, as on the underside of a paw.
the foot, as of a fox, hare, or wolf.
a piece or fold of gauze or other absorbent material for use as a surgical dressing or a protective covering.
Zoology. a pulvillus, as on the tarsus or foot of an insect.
a lily pad.
Rocketry. launch pad.
Slang.
one's living quarters, as an apartment or room.
one's bed.
a room where people gather to take narcotics; an addicts' den.
Slang.
money paid as a bribe to and shared among police officers, as for ignoring law violations.
a list of police officers receiving such money.
Electricity. a nonadjustable attenuator consisting of a network of fixed resistors.
Shipbuilding.
a metal plate riveted or welded to a surface as a base or attachment for bolts, hooks, eyes, etc.
a piece of wood laid on the back of a deck beam to give the deck surface a desired amount of camber.
Carpentry.
a handle for holding various small, interchangeable saw blades.
Also a socket in a brace for a bit.
Metallurgy. a raised surface on a casting.
a small deposit of weld metal, as for building up a worn surface.
to furnish, protect, fill out, or stuff with a pad or padding.
to expand or add to unnecessarily or dishonestly.
to pad a speech; to pad an expense account.
Metallurgy. to add metal to (a casting) above its required dimensions, to insure the flow of enough metal to all parts.
a dull, muffled sound, as of footsteps on the ground.
a road horse, as distinguished from a hunting or working horse.
a highwayman.
British Dialect. a path, lane, or road.
to travel along on foot.
to beat down by treading.
to travel on foot; walk.
to walk so that one's footsteps make a dull, muffled sound.
a thick piece of soft material used to make something comfortable, give it shape, or protect it
a guard made of flexible resilient material worn in various sports to protect parts of the body
Also called: stamp pad. ink pad. a block of firm absorbent material soaked with ink for transferring to a rubber stamp
Also called: notepad. writing pad. a number of sheets of paper fastened together along one edge
a flat piece of stiff material used to back a piece of blotting paper
the fleshy cushion-like underpart of the foot of a cat, dog, etc
any of the parts constituting such a structure
any of various level surfaces or flat-topped structures, such as a launch pad
entomol a nontechnical name for pulvillus
the large flat floating leaf of the water lily
electronics a resistive attenuator network inserted in the path of a signal to reduce amplitude or to match one circuit to another
slang a person's residence
slang a bed or bedroom
to line, stuff, or fill out with soft material, esp in order to protect or give shape to
(often foll by out) to inflate with irrelevant or false information
to pad out a story
(intr; often foll by along, up, etc) to walk with a soft or muffled tread
to travel (a route) on foot, esp at a slow pace; tramp
to pad around the country
a dull soft sound, esp of footsteps
archaic short for footpad
archaic a slow-paced horse; nag
a path or track
a cattle pad
First recorded in 1550–60; originally special uses of obsolete pad “bundle to lie on,” perhaps a blend of pack 1 and bed
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
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.
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
After launch, engineers carried out a thorough review of the launch pad and mobile launcher systems.
From Science Daily • May 4, 2026
The most effective way for the sector to pad its margins is to double down on looking, and functioning, like a sizable version of your phone.
From Slate • May 3, 2026
SpaceX also plans to launch its much bigger Falcon Heavy rockets from another pad.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 21, 2026
The jokester revealed that he initially came across the pad when he was living in the hustle and bustle of New York City and wanted a peaceful getaway.
From MarketWatch • Apr. 16, 2026
Her fingers searched for a button pad like the Fewel ones, but there was nothing but a coin slot.
From "The Marvellers" by Dhonielle Clayton
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.
