Dictionary.com
Thesaurus.com
Showing results for "wadding"
  • present participle of wad.
Search instead for waddings.
Synonyms

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.


wadding British  
/ ˈwɒdɪŋ /

noun

    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

  1. material for wads used in cartridges or guns

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of wadding

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


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:

As he said in 1857, what was the point of celebrating the Fourth if the Declaration was now treated as “mere rubbish—old wadding left to rot on the battlefield”?

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 1, 2026

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

But no matter what I do, and despite myself, I am pulling on my snowpants, wadding my skirt in between my legs, tugging thick woolen socks on over my shoes, stuffing my feet into boots.

From "Cat's Eye" by Margaret Atwood

Random Word

Spin the wheel and learn a new word!

Get a word


Vocabulary.com logo
by dictionary.com

Look it up. Learn it forever.

Remember new words for good with VocabTrainer. Expand your vocabulary effortlessly with personalized learning tools that adapt to your goals.

Take me to Vocabulary.com