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 calledDutch mattress a woven mat of brushwood, poles, etc, used to protect an embankment, dyke, etc, from scour
3. a concrete or steel raft or slab used as a foundation or footing Sometimes shortened tomat
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

All day Wednesday a constant flow of cars arrived, packed with families, bags and mattresses.

From BBC

Early in the morning they grabbed what they could – bags with clothes, blankets, and mattresses – and headed south.

From BBC

Cars were loaded with the suitcases, mattresses and blankets that people had grabbed when they fled or received in the shelters where they had spent the war.

From New York Times

Many seemed scrupulously cared for, but in others a rotted half-sprung mattress would block an upper floor window, with trash strewn in the yard.

From Salon

After that will come a “giant mattress of gravel” 12 inches deep, Rock said, laced with perforated pipes to collect runoff and direct it into Liberty Canyon Creek.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• bed
• cushion
• pallet