I. ˈpad, ˈpaa(ə)d noun
( -s )
Etymology: origin unknown
1.
a. : a flat or shaped firm usually resilient article that is usually not very thick and that consists typically of dense or closely packed material (as rubber, felt, hair) often enclosed in a casing (as of cloth) and that is used like a mat or cushion to ease contact between two surfaces (as in preventing or lessening friction or pressure or jarring) or for personal comfort (as in sitting or reclining) or protection (as against the impact of blows) or that is used to fill out or expand or emphasize natural outlines or contours (as of the shoulders, hips) or to apparently increase natural size or height: as
(1) : a piece of soft often stuffed material like a cushion placed on the back of an animal as a saddle or so as to prevent the animal's back from becoming chafed ; especially : saddle blanket
(2) : a piece of rubber or cloth shaped to fit a part of the body (as the shoulder) and used to improve the lines of the dressed figure
(3) : a protective guard worn in some sports (as ice hockey) to shield parts of the body (as the knees or shins) against impact
(4) : a protective cap for the knee of a horse
(5) : a usually square or rectangular piece of often folded typically absorbent material (as gauze) fixed in place over some part of the body as a dressing or other protective covering
(6) : a piece of soft material fixed in place (as on the toes) so as to relieve pressure and prevent chafing
(7) : a small firm cushion (as of sponge) used for sitting on
(8) : a piece of material (as fiberboard) used to separate and protect articles packed for shipment or used as an insert at the top or bottom of a box to protect the contents
(9) : a length of thick material often made up of layers used for covering a table top before laying the tablecloth and designed to protect the table top from heat and from marring or scratching
(10) : a length of thick material laid over a mattress and under bed sheets to keep the mattress clean and to promote the comfort of one lying on the mattress
(11) : a rectangular article resembling a very thin mattress that is laid out (as on a cot or couch) to promote the comfort of one lying on it
b. : a piece of moistureretaining material typically set in a lidded metal box and saturated with ink for inking the surface of a rubber stamp
c. : a layer of material (as of crushed rock) designed especially to serve as a cushioning or insulating medium
d. : a small leather cushion that lines the valves of wind instruments (as clarinets) and functions like a washer to prevent an unwanted escape of air
e. : a soft cushiony mass of something
the hair falls in heavy pads around the head — G.Montell
a gust of wind blew a snow pad from the branches overhead — Morley Callaghan
2. : pallet 2b
3. : bundle , bunch ; especially : a bundle of cigar wrapper leaves or of binder prepared to be sent to the cigar-making machines
4.
a.
(1) : the foot of an animal (as a fox, wolf, hare)
discovered the mark of a fox's pad in the mud — Adrian Bell
(2) : one of the footprints made by an animal
(3) : pulvillus
b. : a part of the body or of an appendage that resembles or is suggestive of a cushion : a thick fleshy resilient part: as
(1) : the sole of the foot or underside of the toes of an animal (as a camel, dog) that is typically thickened so as to form a cushion
(2) : the underside of the extremities of the fingers ; especially : the ball of the thumb
testing for smoothness with the pad of her thumb — Elizabeth Bowen
5. : a floating leaf of a water plant (as a water lily)
6.
a. : padding
b. : the dye liquor or other liquid used in padding fabrics
7. : a number of sheets of paper (as for writing or drawing) that are grouped together in a stack of varying thickness, that are fastened at one end (as by cementing the extreme edge of each sheet to a cloth strip) so that each sheet may be separately removed, and that are usually backed by a paperboard stiffener placed below the last sheet : tablet — called also block
8.
a. : a piece of timber fitted on a beam of a ship to fill out the curve of a deck
b. : a flat plate fixed (as by welding) to a part of the structure of a ship so as to provide an attachment point (as for rigging) or so as to provide a seat to which another part may be fixed
9.
a. : a local superimposed deposition of weld metal
b. : a thin adventitious projection that may appear on a casting or forging and that is usually ground or chipped off
10. : a nonadjustable attenuator
11.
a. : a small area or expanse
in a pad of green lawn between two heathery steeps — John Buchan
b.
(1) : a section of an airstrip or airway used for warming up the motors of a plane before takeoff
(2) : the section of an airstrip or airway where a plane leaves the ground on takeoff or first touches the ground on landing
(3) : an area in an airfield or heliport used as the takeoff or landing point of a helicopter
c. : launching pad
12. slang
a.
(1) : apartment
(2) : room
(3) : bed
b. : hovel , joint , den
13. slang : money paid (as to racketeers) for immunity from molestation
II. transitive verb
( padded ; padded ; padding ; pads )
1.
a. : to line or cover or stuff or otherwise equip with or as if with material that serves to cushion or protect or fill out or heighten : furnish with a pad or padding
padded the box with soft cloth
his tone was fairly padded with caution — Owen Wister
has a well- padded figure
b. : mute , muffle
there was an explosion of muffled coughing padded with the whirring of starters — W.W.Haines
using the flush of water to pad the sound of movement — Wallace Markfield
2.
a.
(1) : to expand or lengthen (as a book, magazine article, speech) by the insertion of additional material that is usually essentially superfluous and often extraneous to the point of being irrelevant and that is usually used merely to artificially bring the thing so expanded up to some desired size or length or that is used for some other usually equivocal purpose (as to add impressiveness, suggest intellectual depth, mask an otherwise distasteful theme) : inflate — often used with out
a collection of tourist's notes of the most obvious kind, padded out with generalizations that don't bear examining — Honor Tracy
(2) : to add purely invented entries to (as an expense account) or fictitious often fraudulent details to (as a request for an allocation of money)
padded expense accounts and postage and printing allowances — D.D.McKean
(3) : to artificially or fraudulently increase the extent of (as a roster) with real or fictitious names
accused of padding his office payroll
the list of members … was heavily padded by the inclusion of persons without their knowledge and consent — Observer
(4) : to artificially or fraudulently increase the numbers of (as an organization) with real or fictitious individuals
padded the staff with a lot of unnecessary people
(5) : to put fraudulent votes into (as a ballot box)
b. : to state as greater than the actual fact : overstate : magnify beyond truth : exaggerate
suspected she padded her age to work in a cabaret — Jobo Nakamura
c. : to increase in bulk by the addition of other material
pad a soap
3. : to impregnate with a liquid for a special purpose: as
a. : to impregnate (fabric) with dye liquor, mordant, or other liquid by squeezing between rolls
b. : to saturate (leather) with grease
4. : to fasten (sheets of paper) at one end (as by cementing to a cloth strip) so as to form a pad
III. verb
( padded ; padded ; padding ; pads )
Etymology: perhaps from Middle Dutch paden to make a path, follow a path, from pad, pat path
transitive verb
1. : to go along (as a road) on foot
padding the streets in search of a job
2. dialect chiefly England
a. : to tread or trample down by foot travel
b. : to wear (a path) by walking
intransitive verb
1.
a. : to go along on foot : get from one place to another by walking : tramp along : trudge
padding from one town to the next
b. : to move along in an easy unhurried way : walk in a leisurely nonchalant manner : amble
career men-about-town padded over to introduce themselves — J.A.Wechsler
2.
a. : to move along usually steadily with a soft almost noiseless step marked typically by a faint slapping sound or by a light muffled thud
pilgrims hastening to prayers brushed by me, padding on brown bare feet — Abdul Ghafur
pads in her stocking feet to the sofa — Clare B. Luce
backwards and forwards we padded on the soft carpet — John Buchan
turned and padded furtively away — C.G.D.Roberts
might come padding on moccasined feet — J.W.Schaefer
camels pad along slowly, with their heads seemingly motionless at the end of their long, undulating necks — Christopher Rand
b. : to tap softly in such a way as to produce a light muffled sound
he padded with his fingers on the tablecloth — Michael McLaverty
•
- pad the hoof
IV. noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle Dutch or Middle Low German pad, pat — more at path
1.
a. dialect chiefly Britain
(1) : path , trail
(2) : road , route
b. dialect England : custom , habit
2. : a horse that moves along at an easy pace
3. archaic : footpad I
V. noun
( -s )
Etymology: alteration of ped (I)
chiefly dialect : basket
VI. noun
( -s )
Etymology: imitative
: a soft light muffled or faintly slapping sound
hear only the pad of a thousand felt soles on the pavement — James Cameron
VII. noun
( -s )
Etymology: probably from obsolete English, padlock, from Middle English
1.
a. : the socket of a brace into which the bit is inserted
b. : a tool handle into which tools of various sizes or kinds may be inserted
2. : a chock or block to space and hold work for tooling
VIII. noun
1. : a component of certain brake systems (as disk brakes) consisting of a plate covered with a frictional material that is pressed against the side of a rotating wheel or disk
2. : a horizontal concrete surface (as for parking a mobile home)
•
- on the pad