quilt
Americannoun
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a coverlet for a bed, made of two layers of fabric with some soft substance, as wool or down, between them and stitched in patterns or tufted through all thicknesses in order to prevent the filling from shifting.
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anything quilted or resembling a quilt.
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a bedspread or counterpane, especially a thick one.
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Obsolete. a mattress.
verb (used with object)
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to stitch together (two pieces of cloth and a soft interlining), usually in an ornamental pattern.
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to sew up between pieces of material.
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to pad or line with material.
verb (used without object)
noun
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a thick warm cover for a bed, consisting of a soft filling sewn between two layers of material, usually with crisscross seams
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a bedspread or counterpane
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anything quilted or resembling a quilt
verb
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to stitch together (two pieces of fabric) with (a thick padding or lining) between them
to quilt cotton and wool
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to create (a garment, covering, etc) in this way
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to pad with material
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informal to strike; clout
Other Word Forms
- quilter noun
Etymology
Origin of quilt
1250–1300; Middle English quilte < Old French cuilte < Latin culcita mattress, cushion
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.
Husband said fans often looked like a "patchwork quilt" with different colours of shirts in the stands but were brought together by the national dress.
From BBC • Mar. 24, 2026
Several of the Founding Fathers—and nearly everyone around them—devoured Laurence Sterne’s crazy quilt of a tale.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 9, 2026
And of all the tools we use to teach, this quilt chart consistently produces the biggest “aha” moment.
From MarketWatch • Feb. 5, 2026
I still get an urge to call her—to talk about a recipe, to discuss a quilt idea, to ask about how she navigated her early retirement years.
From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 4, 2025
The quilt was similar to the one they had back home, but the colors on this one were deep blue and coral orange.
From "Caterpillar Summer" by Gillian McDunn
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.
