wadding

American  

[wod-ing] / ˈwɒd ɪŋ /

noun

1. any fibrous or soft material for stuffing, padding, packing, etc., especially carded cotton in specially prepared sheets.

2. material used as wads for guns, cartridges, etc.

3. Surgery. any large dressing made of cotton or a similar absorbent material that is used to stanch the flow of blood or dress a wound.

4. a wad or lump.

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wadding British  

/ ˈwɒdɪŋ /

noun

1. 1. any fibrous or soft substance used as padding, stuffing, etc, esp sheets of carded cotton prepared for the purpose

   2. a piece of this

2. material for wads used in cartridges or guns

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Etymology

Origin of wadding

First recorded in 1620–30; wad ¹ + -ing ¹

Example Sentences

It is a pastime that requires next-level commitment, though, as Ioan often spends days deep underground at a time, digging passages, or wadding through partially submerged caves.

From BBC • Oct. 14, 2023

Composed of salvaged vintage linen or dupioni silk and stuffed with mattresslike wadding and sometimes pieces of wood for stability, they only look hard; in reality, they’re soft, even slightly yielding.

From New York Times • Sep. 21, 2022

There was reportedly no wadding for the blanks.

From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 22, 2021

The operator would pour a measure of powder down the barrel, drop a projectile on top, then ram in a piece of wadding to hold everything in place.

From Washington Post • Jul. 16, 2020

I did the same thing, wadding the dirty uniform up into a ball.

From "Glitch" by Laura Martin

Related Words

• bundle
• chunk
• clump
• lump
• packet