mattress

[ma-tris]

noun

1. a large pad for supporting the reclining body, used as or on a bed, consisting of a quilted or similarly fastened case, usually of heavy cloth, that contains hair, straw, cotton, foam rubber, etc., or a framework of metal springs.

2. air mattress.

3. a mat woven of brush, poles, or similar material, used to prevent erosion of the surface of dikes, jetties, embankments, dams, etc.

4. a layer of concrete placed on bare ground, as to provide a footing; mat.

5. a layer of any material used to cushion, protect, reinforce, or the like.

mattress

/ ˈmætrɪs /

noun

1. a large flat pad with a strong cover, filled with straw, foam rubber, etc, and often incorporating coiled springs, used as a bed or as part of a bed

2. Also called: Dutch mattress. a woven mat of brushwood, poles, etc, used to protect an embankment, dyke, etc, from scour

3. Sometimes shortened to: mat. a concrete or steel raft or slab used as a foundation or footing

4. a network of reinforcing rods or expanded metal sheeting, used in reinforced concrete

5. civil engineering another name for blinding

Word History and Origins

Origin of mattress¹

1250–1300; Middle English materas < Old French < Italian materasso < Arabic maṭraḥ mat, cushion

Word History and Origins

Origin of mattress¹

C13: via Old French from Italian materasso, from Arabic almatrah place where something is thrown

Example Sentences

Air Greenland has turned airport meeting rooms and a lounge into make-shift sleeping areas with mattresses.

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His welcome gift to new hires is a mattress to keep at work.

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"Try to live as an asylum seeker only for one day - the mattresses are dirty, the toilets, everything is dirty, broken."

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PC Dan Rogers from South Wales Police told the jury that people came at officers with a burning mattress as well as throwing slate.

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"I lived in a tent. I lived in the hospital. I lived in the MSF office. I put my mattress down in the electricity room of a restaurant."

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Related Words

• bed 
• cushion 
• pallet