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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

These include - but are in no way limited to - the level of downforce chosen at front and rear, the settings for the suspension and differential, and brake pad and disc material.

From BBC ● Aug. 11, 2026

The LP served as a runway — or perhaps more accurately, a launching pad — for the more experimental and challenging efforts to follow.

From Salon ● Aug. 5, 2026

He spun so much that I had to put a bootie on his back right foot because Cosmo wore down his paw pad until it bled.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 28, 2026

He picked up the pad in 2022 for $8.5 million.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 22, 2026

Emma and I trade facts back and forth, and she jots our notes onto a yellow legal pad.

From "South of Somewhere" by Kalena Miller

The combined spending in the past two quarters on AI-related equipment even padded GDP more than consumer spending, typically the main conduit by which the economy grows.

From MarketWatch ● Jun. 27, 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

She cocked her head, padded cautiously across the patio, and hid beneath a chair.

From Slate ● Jun. 20, 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

The fairground man on the Great Silvestro's Flying Tea-Cups locked the padded bars that'd stop me, Dean, Floyd Chaceley, and Clive Pike from being flung halfway to Orion.

From "Black Swan Green" by David Mitchell

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

There was Molly Hollis, a middle-aged, Midwestern former schoolteacher whose creation required body padding and a wig; a flamboyant redhead; a nearly invisible elderly woman; and, most uncannily, Reichl’s own mother.

From Salon ● Jul. 5, 2026

A late catch by Pages helped close out the game after he gloved a ball despite ramming into the padding of the center field wall.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 3, 2026

The new robotaxi features a lighter interior color palette, added padding, and ergonomic curves in the seats and headrests.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 24, 2026

In addition, they were used for applying paints and glazes, as portable drinking “cups,” and as padding for helmets.

From "Shipwrecked!" by Martin W. Sandler

Related Words

• augment
• embellish
• fudge
• inflate
• overstate