padded cell

American  

noun

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

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padded cell British  

noun

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

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Example Sentences

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

There was talk of his finally escaping the padded cell of convention and expertise that had half-contained his presidency.

From New York Times • Apr. 9, 2018

In this new series, Ives undergoes counselling with an alienist psychotherapist, and later appears in a padded cell with tears streaming down her face, hissing ominously at her doctors: “You think you know evil?”

From The Guardian • May 3, 2016

They had stepped directly into a tiny sitting room, which had the feeling of a dark, padded cell.

From "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" by J.K. Rowling

Related Words

• mental health institution
• psychiatric hospital
• psychiatric ward