quilt
Americannoun
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quilts
plural
-
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.
-
anything quilted or resembling a quilt.
-
a bedspread or counterpane, especially a thick one.
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Obsolete. a mattress.
verb (used with object)
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quilts,
present (3rd person singular)
-
quilted,
past participle, past
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quilting
present participle
-
to stitch together (two pieces of cloth and a soft interlining), usually in an ornamental pattern.
-
to sew up between pieces of material.
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to pad or line with material.
verb (used without object)
-
quilts,
present (3rd person singular)
-
quilted,
past participle, past
-
quilting
present participle
noun
-
a thick warm cover for a bed, consisting of a soft filling sewn between two layers of material, usually with crisscross seams
-
a bedspread or counterpane
-
anything quilted or resembling a quilt
verb
-
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
-
to pad with material
-
informal to strike; clout
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
quiltsimple
-
quiltssimple
-
have quiltedperfect
-
has quiltedperfect
-
am quiltingprogressive
-
are quiltingprogressive
-
is quiltingprogressive
-
have been quiltingperfect progressive
-
has been quiltingperfect progressive
Past
-
quiltedsimple
-
had quiltedperfect
-
was quiltingprogressive
-
were quiltingprogressive
-
had been quiltingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of quilt
1250–1300; Middle English quilte < Old French cuilte < Latin culcita mattress, cushion
Explanation
A quilt is a thick cover for a bed, made from pieces of fabric that are stitched together and filled with padding. Quilt is also a verb, so you can quilt a quilt. The simplest quilts have two layers of fabric that are sewn on either side of a layer of batting, a thin type of stuffing. Patchwork quilts have small pieces of cotton sewn into patterns, and the fabric is sewn over the batting with stitches that make decorative designs. A quilt was originally the same thing as a mattress, and the word comes from the Latin culcita, "mattress or bolster."
Vocabulary lists containing quilt
This Week In Words: April 26–May 2, 2020
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Scrabble: Words that Begin with Q
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The Road to Freedom
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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.
See Examples For:
That first week, we had a TV and a kind of makeshift conversation pit: a quilt, a mattress, some pillows.
From Salon ● Jul. 11, 2026
We’re a quilt of positive and negative traits.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 1, 2026
She has also made a quilt, using fabrics which reminded her of her time in prison.
From BBC ● May 30, 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
When we got there, she said, “Find that old quilt in the wash house and make up a bed for J.W. in your room.”
From "The Teacher’s Funeral" by Richard Peck
It educates us in many arcane worlds of arts and crafts, quilts, chairs, pickle crocks and other items whose value really can be in the eye of the beholder.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 16, 2026
Patriotic 20th-century snapshots; souvenirs from the 1876 centennial; numerous depictions of Washington; flags; eagles and more join quilts, historical documents, paintings, toys and other works from 1776 to the present.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 8, 2026
In the bottom of a chest of quilts were nestled her collection of mugs.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 4, 2025
The kitchen windows are adorned with curtains made from quilts found at the Pasadena City College flea market and fabric from Remainders, a Pasadena craft store.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 28, 2025
He wraps Madame in quilts, but eventually she shivers so deeply, so profoundly, that he takes the big heavy rag rug off the floor and lays it on top of her.
From "All the Light We Cannot See" by Anthony Doerr
The doorbell went again and a walking sculpture dressed in an Anne Boleyn-style quilted dress with beaded face mask appeared.
From BBC ● Jul. 17, 2026
Case in point: the featherweight quilted Celestia jacket with a highly reflective shell that, according to the designer, “comes alive with motion.”
From Los Angeles Times ● May 15, 2026
He was last seen wearing a quilted green-brown Barbour jacket over a beige woollen jumper, with navy chinos and brown leather trainers with white soles.
From BBC ● Mar. 2, 2026
Vera Bradley, the maker of quilted bags and accessories, is changing strategy again following a rebrand that de-emphasized its signature florals and patterns—and left some of its loyal consumers fuming.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 2, 2026
She's wearing jeans and a quilted blue jacket, the same shade of blue that covers a third of her truck.
From "The Sky at Our Feet" by Nadia Hashimi
Perhaps that is because while I was teaching and teaching teachers, I also had my side gigs—entertaining big groups, experimenting in the kitchen, a quilting group.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 12, 2026
For example, quilting has long been a domestically appropriate medium for women to express their political beliefs, well before they had the right to vote.
From Slate ● Jan. 29, 2026
"It wasn’t her family pictures, it wasn't her jewellery, it was her quilting."
From BBC ● Dec. 26, 2024
Repurposing fabric — from tattered blankets, frayed rags, stained clothes — is a central ethos of the community’s quilting practice, which resists commodification.
From Seattle Times ● May 10, 2024
“Let’s watch something else,” her mother had said suddenly, and she’d changed the channel to a show about quilting.
From "Beauty Queens" by Libba Bray
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.
