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Synonyms

padded cell

American  

noun

  1. a room, as in a mental hospital, with padded walls for the confinement of violent inmates.

padded cell British  

noun

  1. a room, esp one in a mental hospital, with padded surfaces in which violent inmates are placed

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

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.

"Should I feel anything?" asks the beady-eyed man, sitting in a padded cell with handcuffs around his wrists.

From BBC • Nov. 8, 2025

It is as though the series will inevitably end with the character opening her eyes and the camera slowly panning out to reveal her padded cell.

From Salon • Jul. 15, 2025

The visual expedition begins with the opening credits, which focus on charmingly quilted satin walls that invoke a nursery crossed with a padded cell.

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 5, 2023

It offers some health care, including dental services and has a psychiatric unit with a padded cell.

From New York Times • Dec. 12, 2022

They'd lock me up in a padded cell for sure.

From "The Old Willis Place" by Mary Downing Hahn

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.