pad

¹

[pad]

noun

1. a cushionlike mass of soft material used for comfort, protection, or stuffing.

2. a soft, stuffed cushion used as a saddle; a padded leather saddle without a tree.

3. a number of sheets of paper glued or otherwise held together at one edge to form a tablet.

4. a soft, ink-soaked block of absorbent material for inking a rubber stamp.

5. Anatomy, Zoology.,  any fleshy mass of tissue that cushions a weight-bearing part of the body, as on the underside of a paw.

6. the foot, as of a fox, hare, or wolf.

7. a piece or fold of gauze or other absorbent material for use as a surgical dressing or a protective covering.

8. Zoology.,  a pulvillus, as on the tarsus or foot of an insect.

9. a lily pad.

10. Rocketry.,  launch pad.

11. Slang.

    1. one's living quarters, as an apartment or room.

    2. one's bed.

    3. a room where people gather to take narcotics; an addicts' den.

12. Slang.

    1. money paid as a bribe to and shared among police officers, as for ignoring law violations.

    2. a list of police officers receiving such money.

13. Electricity.,  a nonadjustable attenuator consisting of a network of fixed resistors.

14. Shipbuilding.

    1. a metal plate riveted or welded to a surface as a base or attachment for bolts, hooks, eyes, etc.

    2. a piece of wood laid on the back of a deck beam to give the deck surface a desired amount of camber.

15. Carpentry.

    1. a handle for holding various small, interchangeable saw blades.

    2. Also a socket in a brace for a bit.

16. Metallurgy.,  a raised surface on a casting.

17. a small deposit of weld metal, as for building up a worn surface.

verb (used with object)

padded, padding 

1. to furnish, protect, fill out, or stuff with a pad or padding.

2. to expand or add to unnecessarily or dishonestly.

   to pad a speech; to pad an expense account.

3. Metallurgy.,  to add metal to (a casting) above its required dimensions, to insure the flow of enough metal to all parts.

verb (used without object)

padded, padding 

1. to insure the proper forging of a piece.

pad

²

[pad]

noun

1. a dull, muffled sound, as of footsteps on the ground.

2. a road horse, as distinguished from a hunting or working horse.

3. a highwayman.

4. British Dialect.,  a path, lane, or road.

verb (used with object)

padded, padding 

1. to travel along on foot.

2. to beat down by treading.

verb (used without object)

padded, padding 

1. to travel on foot; walk.

2. to walk so that one's footsteps make a dull, muffled sound.

PaD

³

abbreviation

1. Pennsylvania Dutch.

pad

¹

/ pæd /

noun

1. a thick piece of soft material used to make something comfortable, give it shape, or protect it

2. a guard made of flexible resilient material worn in various sports to protect parts of the body

3. Also called: stamp pad.  ink pad. a block of firm absorbent material soaked with ink for transferring to a rubber stamp

4. Also called: notepad.  writing pad. a number of sheets of paper fastened together along one edge

5. a flat piece of stiff material used to back a piece of blotting paper

6. 1. the fleshy cushion-like underpart of the foot of a cat, dog, etc

   2. any of the parts constituting such a structure

7. any of various level surfaces or flat-topped structures, such as a launch pad

8. entomol a nontechnical name for pulvillus

9. the large flat floating leaf of the water lily

10. electronics a resistive attenuator network inserted in the path of a signal to reduce amplitude or to match one circuit to another

11. slang,  a person's residence

12. slang,  a bed or bedroom

verb

1. to line, stuff, or fill out with soft material, esp in order to protect or give shape to

2. (often foll by out) to inflate with irrelevant or false information

   to pad out a story

pad

²

/ pæd /

verb

1. (intr; often foll by along, up, etc) to walk with a soft or muffled tread

2. to travel (a route) on foot, esp at a slow pace; tramp

   to pad around the country

noun

1. a dull soft sound, esp of footsteps

2. archaic,  short for footpad

3. archaic,  a slow-paced horse; nag

4. a path or track

   a cattle pad

Word History and Origins

Origin of pad¹

First recorded in 1550–60; originally special uses of obsolete pad “bundle to lie on,” perhaps a blend of pack ¹ and bed

Origin of pad²

First recorded in 1545–55; noun from Middle Dutch or Low German pad “path” (originally thieves' and beggars' slang); hence, apparently, “highwayman” and “horse”); verb from Middle Dutch padden “to make or follow a path,” cognate with Old English pæththan “to traverse,” derivative of pæth; path ( def. ); pad ² defs. 1, 8 perhaps represent an independent expressive word that has been influenced by other senses

Word History and Origins

Origin of pad¹

C16: origin uncertain; compare Low German pad sole of the foot

Origin of pad²

C16: perhaps from Middle Dutch paden, from pad _path

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. on the pad, (of a police officer) receiving a bribe, especially on a regular basis.

Example Sentences

The festival has become a reliable launching pad for films in North America, particularly those looking to enter the Oscar race.

From Los Angeles Times

Claudine Singer, 72, brings knee pads so she can crouch in the street to scrape out the gutters with a metal claw.

From Los Angeles Times

Instead, the city is laying plans for a $28-million project to demolish it and build a smaller new pool and a splash pad in its place while reconstructing the two-story pool house next door.

From Los Angeles Times

These days he must teach from scratch, showing kids how to put on shoulder pads, block and tackle.

From Los Angeles Times

County also offers cooling centers — buildings with air conditions open to the public — as a reprieve from the warm temperatures, along with its public pools and splash pads.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• augment 
• embellish 
• fudge 
• inflate 
• overstate