quilt

American  

[kwilt] / kwɪlt /

noun

1. 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.

2. anything quilted or resembling a quilt.

3. a bedspread or counterpane, especially a thick one.

4. Obsolete. a mattress.

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verb (used with object)

1. to stitch together (two pieces of cloth and a soft interlining), usually in an ornamental pattern.

2. to sew up between pieces of material.

3. to pad or line with material.

verb (used without object)

1. to make quilts or quilted work.

quilt British  

/ kwɪlt /

noun

1. a thick warm cover for a bed, consisting of a soft filling sewn between two layers of material, usually with crisscross seams

2. a bedspread or counterpane

3. anything quilted or resembling a quilt

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verb

1. to stitch together (two pieces of fabric) with (a thick padding or lining) between them

   to quilt cotton and wool

2. to create (a garment, covering, etc) in this way

3. to pad with material

4. 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

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

I was imagining concrete floors and mice skittering about, but the sofa bed is unfolded and covered with a thick quilt.

From Literature

She longed to be home, wrapped in the patchwork quilt that always lay on the end of the sofa.

From Literature

Several of the Founding Fathers—and nearly everyone around them—devoured Laurence Sterne’s crazy quilt of a tale.

From The Wall Street Journal

And yet the most powerful teaching tool I have is a quilt.

From MarketWatch

Related Words

• bedspread
• blanket
• comforter