Pronunciations (5)
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/bɛd/
Pronunciation notes
- General-American
- Received-Pronunciation
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[beː]
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/bed/
Pronunciation notes
- Australia
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/be̝d/
Pronunciation notes
- New-Zealand
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bɛd
Noun
A piece of furniture, usually flat and soft, on which to rest or sleep.
Usage- Countable
- Examples
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I read books in bed.
My cat often sleeps on my bed.
I keep a glass of water next to my bed when I sleep.
More examples (1)
At length, one night, when the company by ſome accident broke up much ſooner than ordinary, ſo that the candles were not half burnt out, ſhe was not able to reſiſt the temptation, but reſolved to have them ſome way or other. Accordingly, as ſoon as the hurry was over, and the ſervants, as ſhe thought, all gone to ſleep, ſhe ſtole out of her bed, and went down ſtairs, naked to her ſhift as ſhe was, with a deſign to ſteal them[…].
A piece of furniture, usually flat and soft, on which to rest or sleep. A mattress.
Usage- Countable
- Examples
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I find her bed too soft.
A piece of furniture, usually flat and soft, on which to rest or sleep. A bedframe.
Usage- Countable
- Examples
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That huge wood bed is too heavy for us to carry it that far.
A piece of furniture, usually flat and soft, on which to rest or sleep. A prepared spot in which to spend the night.
Usage- Countable
- Uncountable
- Examples
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When camping, he usually makes a bed for the night from hay and a blanket.
A piece of furniture, usually flat and soft, on which to rest or sleep. One's place of sleep or rest.
Usage- Countable
- Uncountable
- usually
- after a preposition
- Examples
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Go to bed!
I had breakfast in bed this morning.
A piece of furniture, usually flat and soft, on which to rest or sleep. Sleep; rest; getting to sleep.
Usage- Uncountable
- usually
- after a preposition
- Examples
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He's been afraid of bed since he saw the scary film.
A piece of furniture, usually flat and soft, on which to rest or sleep. The time for going to sleep or resting in bed; bedtime.
Usage- Uncountable
- usually
- after a preposition
- Examples
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I read until bed.
A piece of furniture, usually flat and soft, on which to rest or sleep. The equipment, staffing, etc., required for a patient in a medical institution.
Usage- Countable
- Examples
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We have a patient who needs a bed right away.
A piece of furniture, usually flat and soft, on which to rest or sleep. Time spent in a bed.
Usage- Uncountable
- Examples
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I am quite sure that too much bed, if not too much sleep, is prejudicial, though a certain amount is absolutely necessary.
More examples (1)
Some prisoners, indeed, are always up before the bell rings — such was my practice — they prefer to grope about in the dark to tossing about in the utter weariness of too much bed.
This condition is one of the dangers of “too much bed”. The nurse should inspect the legs of each patient daily
A piece of furniture, usually flat and soft, on which to rest or sleep. Marriage.
Usage- Countable
- Figurative
- Uncountable
- Examples
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George, the eldest son of his second bed.
A piece of furniture, usually flat and soft, on which to rest or sleep. Sexual activity.
Usage- Figurative
- Uncountable
- Examples
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Too much bed, not enough rest.
A place, or flat surface or layer, on which something else rests or is laid.
Usage- Countable
- Uncountable
- Examples
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The meats and cheeses lay on a bed of lettuce.
A place, or flat surface or layer, on which something else rests or is laid. The bottom of a body of water, such as an ocean, sea, lake, or river.
Usage- Countable
- Examples
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sea bed
river bed
More examples (1)
There’s a lot of trash on the bed of the river.
A place, or flat surface or layer, on which something else rests or is laid. An area where a large number of oysters, mussels, other sessile shellfish, or a large amount of seaweed is found.
Usage- Countable
- Uncountable
- Examples
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Oysters are farmed from their beds.
I knew that there were kelp beds and reefs which could rip the bottoms from boats down in Skedans Bay.
A place, or flat surface or layer, on which something else rests or is laid. A garden plot.
Usage- Countable
- Uncountable
- Examples
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We added a new bush to our rose bed.
More examples (1)
Breezes blowing from beds of iris quickened her breath with their perfume; she saw the tufted lilacs sway in the wind, and the streamers of mauve-tinted wistaria swinging, all a-glisten with golden bees; she saw a crimson cardinal winging through the foliage, and amorous tanagers flashing like scarlet flames athwart the pines.
A place, or flat surface or layer, on which something else rests or is laid. A foundation or supporting surface formed of a fluid.
Usage- Countable
- Uncountable
- Examples
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A bed of concrete makes a strong subsurface for an asphalt parking lot.
A place, or flat surface or layer, on which something else rests or is laid. The superficial earthwork, or ballast, of a railroad.
Usage- Countable
- Uncountable
A place, or flat surface or layer, on which something else rests or is laid. The platform of a truck, trailer, wagon, railcar, or other vehicle that supports the load to be hauled.
Usage- Canada
- US usage
- Countable
- Uncountable
- Synonyms
- Examples
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The parcels were loaded onto the truck bed before transportation.
A place, or flat surface or layer, on which something else rests or is laid. A shaped piece of timber to hold a cask clear of a ship’s floor; a pallet.
Usage- Countable
- Uncountable
A place, or flat surface or layer, on which something else rests or is laid. The flat part of the press, on which the form is laid.
Usage- Countable
- Dated
- Uncountable
A place, or flat surface or layer, on which something else rests or is laid. The flat surface of a scanner on which a document is placed to be scanned.
Usage- Countable
- Uncountable
A place, or flat surface or layer, on which something else rests or is laid. A piece of music, normally instrumental, over which a radio DJ talks.
Usage- Countable
- Uncountable
A place, or flat surface or layer, on which something else rests or is laid. Any of the sections of a dartboard with a point value, delimited by a wire.
Usage- Countable
- Uncountable
A place, or flat surface or layer, on which something else rests or is laid. The taut surface of a trampoline.
Usage- Countable
- Uncountable
- Examples
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These 5 judges mark the athlete's staying in the center of the bed, uniformity of bounce heights, and general style.
A horizontal layer or surface. A deposit of ore, coal, etc.
Usage- Countable
- Uncountable
A horizontal layer or surface. The smallest division of a geologic formation or stratigraphic rock series marked by well-defined divisional planes (bedding planes) separating it from layers above and below.
Usage- Countable
A horizontal layer or surface. The horizontal surface of a building stone.
Usage- Countable
- Uncountable
- Examples
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the upper and lower beds
A horizontal layer or surface. The lower surface of a brick, slate, or tile.
Usage- Countable
- Uncountable
A horizontal layer or surface. A course of stone or brick in a wall.
Usage- Countable
- Uncountable
Verb
Senses relating to a bed as a place for resting or sleeping. To go to bed; to put oneself to sleep.
Usage- Intransitive
- Examples
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I usually listen to music before I bed.
Senses relating to a bed as a place for resting or sleeping. To place in a bed.
Usage- Transitive
- Examples
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More examples (1)
For she was not only publicly contracted, but stated as a bride, and solemnly bedded, and after she was laid, there came in Maximilian's ambassador with letters of procuration
Senses relating to a bed as a place for resting or sleeping. To furnish with a bed or bedding.
Usage- Transitive
Senses relating to a bed as a place for resting or sleeping. To have sex (with).
Usage- Transitive or intransitive
- Synonyms
- Examples
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And he who lies with another Man's Wife after she is married, even before her Husband had bedded with her, is guilty of Adultery, […]
Senses relating to a bed as a place for resting or sleeping. Of large game animals: to be at rest.
Usage- Intransitive
Senses relating to a bed as a place or layer on which something else rests or is laid. To lay or put in any hollow place, or place of rest and security, surrounded or enclosed; to embed.
Usage- Transitive
- Examples
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1810/1835, William Wordsworth, Guide to the Lakes Among all chains or clusters of mountains where large bodies of still water are bedded.
More examples (1)
But I must warn you that chipboard floors are always likely to squeak. The material is still being used in new-builds, but developers now use adhesive to bed and joint it, rather than screws or nails. I suspect the adhesive will eventually embrittle and crack, resulting in the same squeaking problems as before.
Senses relating to a bed as a place or layer on which something else rests or is laid. To set in a soft matrix, as paving stones in sand, or tiles in cement.
Usage- Transitive
Senses relating to a bed as a place or layer on which something else rests or is laid. To set out (plants) in a garden bed.
Usage- Transitive
Senses relating to a bed as a place or layer on which something else rests or is laid. To dress or prepare the surface of (stone) so it can serve as a bed.
Usage- Transitive
Senses relating to a bed as a place or layer on which something else rests or is laid. To lay flat; to lay in order; to place in a horizontal or recumbent position.
Usage- Transitive
- Examples
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Your bedded hair like life in excrements
Senses relating to a bed as a place or layer on which something else rests or is laid. To settle, as machinery.
Noun
a piece of furniture that provides a place to sleep
- Broader terms
- Examples
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he sat on the edge of the bed
the room had only a bed and chair
a plot of ground in which plants are growing
- Broader terms
- Examples
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the gardener planted a bed of roses
a depression forming the ground under a body of water
- Synonyms
- Broader terms
- Examples
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he searched for treasure on the ocean bed
(geology) a stratum of rock (especially sedimentary rock)
- Broader terms
- Examples
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they found a bed of sandstone
a stratum of ore or coal thick enough to be mined with profit
- Synonyms
- Broader terms
- Examples
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he worked in the coal beds
single thickness of usually some homogeneous substance
- Synonyms
- Examples
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slices of hard-boiled egg on a bed of spinach
the flat surface of a printing press on which the type form is laid in the last stage of producing a newspaper or magazine or book etc.
- Broader terms
a foundation of earth or rock supporting a road or railroad track
- Examples
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the track bed had washed away
Verb
furnish with a bed
- Examples
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The inn keeper could bed all the new arrivals
place (plants) in a prepared bed of soil
put to bed
- Examples
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The children were bedded at ten o'clock
have sexual intercourse with
- Synonyms
- Examples
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Adam knew Eve
Were you ever intimate with this man?
prepare for sleep
- Examples
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I usually turn in at midnight
He goes to bed at the crack of dawn