bed

BED/bɛd/

Pluralbeds

Verbbeds, bedding, bedded

33 meanings of bed

Practice

1
sleeping furniturenouncountable
A piece of furniture for sleeping or resting on, or the one where a particular person sleeps.
He collapsed onto the bed after a long shift at the hospital.
The new bed was far too firm for her liking.
UsageMake the bed means tidy it. To sleep, you go to bed with no article.
2
night's lodgingnouncountable or uncountable
A spot prepared for someone to spend the night.
The monastery gave each pilgrim a simple bed and a hot meal.
By midnight the only bed left in town was a cot in the back room.
UsageCommon in a bed for the night.
Similarberth, bunk, place
3
settle to sleepverbintransitive
To go to bed and settle down to sleep.
Campers usually bed down soon after the fire dies out.
The shepherds bedded down close to their flock for warmth.
UsageMostly bed down: we bedded down early.
Similarsleep, retire, bunk, kip
Oppositerise, wake
4
nouncountable
The solid ground forming the bottom of an ocean, sea, lake, or river.
When the drought set in, the bed of the river lay completely exposed.
Strange creatures thrive on the ocean bed, far below the reach of sunlight.
UsageOften a compound: riverbed, seabed; or the bed of a river.
Similarbottom, floor
5
garden plotnouncountable or uncountable
A plot of ground prepared for growing flowers, vegetables, or other plants.
Each spring she turned over the soil in the rose bed before planting.
A neatly edged bed of herbs ran the length of the garden wall.
UsageNamed by what grows in it: a flower bed, a rose bed, a vegetable bed.
Similarplot, border, patch
Note
The verb to set out plants comes straight from it.
6
noununcountable
The time for going to sleep, or the sleep or rest one gets in bed.
We usually read a chapter or two together before bed on school nights.
Once the dishes were done, it was straight to bed for everyone.
UsageNo article after before, until or to: read before bed, straight to bed; bedtime is clearer if it might be misread.
Similarbedtime, sleep
7
nouncountable or uncountable
A place, flat surface or layer on which something else rests or is laid, such as greens under a serving of food.
The grilled salmon was served on a bed of wild rice.
Workers spread a bed of crushed gravel before setting the paving stones.
UsageIn the kitchen, mostly on a bed of: salmon on a bed of rice.
Similarlayer, base
Note
The general sense behind the word's many technical beds: the gravel under paving stones, the flat part of a printing press, the platform of a truck, a layer of rock.
8
sleeping roomnouncountable or uncountableabbreviationclipping
Short for bedroom: used mainly in counting the rooms of a home, as in a three-bed apartment.
The apartment is listed as a three-bed with two bathrooms.
She is hunting for a one-bed near the train station.
UsageMostly in listings and compounds: a two-bed apartment, 3 beds, 2 baths; elsewhere say bedroom.
Note
Property listings are its home: 2 beds, 1 bath counts bedrooms, not mattresses.
9
truck platformnounCanadaUScountable or uncountable
The flat platform of a truck, trailer, or railcar that supports the load being hauled.
He stacked the lumber across the bed of the flatbed trailer.
The truck bed was rusted through after years of hauling gravel.
Similartray
Note
A North American vehicle word. In the US and Canada, the load platform of a truck is the truck bed, and a trailer built as nothing but that platform is a flatbed. In Australia and New Zealand the same part is usually called a tray. The word names the surface that takes the weight of the cargo, not the body or cab around it.
Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 1 fact
A flatbed has a flat load platform without fixed sides or a roof. en.wikipedia.org
10
sex lifenounfigurativelyuncountable
Sexual activity, referred to indirectly through the image of the bed.
They fought about money all the time, but in bed they still got along.
By his own account, he had little to offer a partner outside of bed.
UsageMostly in bed, with no article: good in bed, problems in bed.
Similarsex, lovemaking
Note
The quip too much bed, not enough rest depends on the same phrase also covering time spent lying down, where too much bed is a nurse's worry. Context, and here the pull against rest, tells the reader which meaning is in play.
Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 2 facts
The quoted quip is attested as an unattributed example of the sexual sense. en.wiktionary.org
Excessive time spent in bed can be a concern in patient care. healthhub.sg
11
rock layernouncountable
A layer of rock, or of coal, ore, or a similar material, lying within the ground.
Geologists logged every bed in the canyon wall to reconstruct the region's history.
A thin bed of volcanic ash serves as a marker traceable across hundreds of miles.
Similarlayer, stratum, seam
Note
In formal stratigraphy it is a precise rank, not a loose word for layer. A bed is the smallest division of a formation, defined by the bedding planes that bound it above and below. Stratum and layer overlap with it in everyday writing, but only bed names that smallest unit. A miner who speaks of a coal bed uses the word more loosely, as an informal name for a seam of coal.
Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 4 facts
Geologists use bed both formally and informally; coal beds and other economic units commonly have informal names. nacsn.americangeosciences.org
Bed names the smallest unit in the formal sedimentary lithostratigraphic hierarchy. stratigraphy.org
A bed has upper and lower bedding boundaries. en.wikipedia.org
Coal beds can be uneconomic to mine; workability is not a defining requirement. hgeo.energy.gov
12
sea life patchnouncountable or uncountable
An area on the seafloor where large numbers of oysters, mussels, or other shellfish, or masses of seaweed, are found.
Divers surveyed the kelp bed for signs of recovery after the spill.
The town's economy depended on the rich oyster beds in the estuary.
UsageNamed by what grows there: oyster beds, mussel beds, kelp beds.
Similarbank, colony, ground

Less common meanings

13
sleep withverbtransitive or intransitive
To have sexual intercourse with someone.
He would bed anyone who flattered him at court.
The general bedded the spy without ever suspecting her motives.
UsageSleep with and go to bed with are the everyday ways to say this.
Similarseduce, mount, take, bang, bone
Note
William Forbes's Institutes of the Law of Scotland (1730) uses the intransitive form, bed with, speaking of a husband who has "bedded with her." In older prose, watch for confusion with placing someone in bed.
Checked 3 Nov 2026 · 3 facts
William Forbes wrote Institutes of the Law of Scotland; 1730 dates its second volume, while the first appeared in 1722. research.ed.ac.uk
The work uses intransitive bed with of a husband, with the exact wording “bedded with her.” en.wiktionary.org
Older prose also uses bed to mean placing someone in bed. en.wiktionary.org
14
verbtransitive
To put a person or animal to bed, or to provide them with a bed or place to sleep.
She bedded the feverish child and drew the blankets up to his chin.
The keepers bed the big cats in their dens each evening.
Note
Ceremony once attached to this act. Francis Bacon, writing in 1622, describes a bride publicly contracted and "solemnly bedded" before an ambassador arrived with letters of procuration. Putting the bride to bed was a public step in the marriage. With children, animals and patients the verb is ordinary, but in older texts bedded can mark that formal moment.
Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 4 facts
Putting newlyweds to bed could be a public marriage ceremony. en.wikipedia.org
The Francis Bacon work containing this account, The History of the Reign of King Henry VII, was first published in 1622. celm.folger.edu
Bacon describes the bride as publicly contracted and “solemnly bedded,” followed by the arrival of Maximilian’s ambassador with letters of procuration. books.google.com
The bedding was a publicly witnessed step in the marriage ceremony. books.google.com
15
marriagenounarchaicfigurativelycountable or uncountable
Marriage considered as the union of two spouses, especially with regard to legitimate offspring.
George, the eldest son of his second bed.
Can we date this quote?, Edward [Hyde, 1st] Earl of Clarendon, in The History of the Rebellion and Civil Wars in England
Similarmarriage, union, wedlock
Note
Marriages could be counted as beds. The Earl of Clarendon writes of "George, the eldest son of his second bed," meaning a son of the second marriage. The useful pattern is son, or children, of a bed, which sorts heirs by the union that produced them. Outside that family-history construction, marriage is the clearer word.
Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 1 fact
Bed could figuratively mean marriage. en.wiktionary.org
16
plant outverbtransitive
To set out plants in a garden bed, placing them into prepared ground.
The gardeners bed the seedlings as soon as the frost has passed.
She likes to bed marigolds around the vegetable patch to deter pests.
UsageOften bed out: bed out petunias in May.
Similarplant, transplant, set
17
track basenouncountable or uncountable
The foundation of ballast and packed earthwork on which the rails and ties of a railroad are laid.
Heavy rain washed away part of the bed beneath the railroad tracks, and trains were halted for two days.
A well-drained bed keeps the rails from shifting under heavy trains.
Similarfoundation
18
trampoline surfacenouncountable or uncountable
The taut, springy surface of a trampoline, stretched across the frame, on which a person bounces.
The gymnast hit the bed cleanly and rebounded into a somersault.
After years of sun and rain, the trampoline's bed had started to tear near the springs.
Similarmat
Note
Judges watch where the athlete lands on it. Sports: The Complete Visual Reference (2000) lists staying in the center of the bed among the things marked, alongside even bounce heights. The bed is the fabric surface itself, distinct from the frame and from the springs that hold it taut.
Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 3 facts
Sports: The Complete Visual Reference was published in 2000. publications.gc.ca
The book says judges mark central positioning and uniform bounce heights. en.wiktionary.org
The trampoline bed is the fabric surface, distinct from its supporting frame and springs. gymnastics.sport
19
air cushionnouncountable or uncountable
A foundation or supporting surface formed of a fluid, such as a cushion of air or a film of liquid.
The craft rides on a bed of compressed air a few inches above the water.
Bearings of this design run on a bed of pressurized oil.
Similarcushion, film, layer
20
scanner glassnouncountable or uncountable
The flat platform on a scanner where a document lies while its image is captured.
He aligned the contract along the edge of the bed before closing the lid.
A streak on the bed showed up as a line down every scanned page.
Similarglass, platen
Note
Office machines borrowed the word. The bed of a flatbed scanner is the flat glass on which the page lies face down while a sensor travels beneath it. Because the original stays still and the reading head moves, any mark on the glass shows up on every scan as a spot in the same place.
Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 4 facts
Bed is used for the flat supporting surface of a scanner. en.wiktionary.org
The document lies face down on the scanner glass. files.support.epson.com
The original remains stationary while the scanning element moves beneath the glass. en.wikipedia.org
Dust on flatbed glass can produce localized spots. A mark need not produce a streak; its appearance depends on the contamination and scanning conditions. files.support.epson.com
21
set firmlyverbtransitive
To set or fix something into a surrounding material so that it rests securely; to embed.
The diver bedded the anchor firmly into the muddy seabed.
Engineers bed the cables deep in concrete to shield them from damage.
UsageUsually followed by in or into, often in the passive: stones bedded in mortar.
Similarembed, fix, set, lodge, sink
Note
A verb that stretches from landscape to building site. William Wordsworth, in his Guide to the Lakes, has large bodies of still water bedded among mountains. Jeff Howell, writing about floorboards in 2014, reports that developers bed and joint chipboard with adhesive.
Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 2 facts
William Wordsworth describes large bodies of still water as bedded among mountains in Guide to the Lakes. gutenberg.org
Jeff Howell wrote about floorboards in 2014 and reported that developers used adhesive to bed and joint chipboard. en.wiktionary.org
22
nouncountable
A unit of capacity in a hospital or other care facility: room for one patient, plus the staff and equipment to care for that patient.
During the flu outbreak, the region ran short of intensive care beds.
Each new bed in the unit costs the state far more than the frame and mattress.
UsageBefore a noun, hyphenated and singular: a 200-bed hospital.
Note
Because the count includes the people and equipment behind each one, a ward can have frames standing empty and still be short of beds.
Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 1 fact
Usable bed capacity requires staff and equipment, so empty physical beds need not represent available capacity. okoha.com
23
noun
A piece of music, usually instrumental, played quietly underneath a radio DJ's speech.
24
verb
To lay something flat or in order, placing it in a horizontal or resting position.
Your bedded hair like life in excrements
c. 1599, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke”
25
noun
A course of stone or brick forming one horizontal layer in a wall.
26
noun
Any of the scoring sections of a dartboard that carry a point value, each separated from the next by a wire.
27
noun
A wooden block or frame cut to fit under a barrel so that it rests off a ship's deck or hold bottom.
28
noundated
In a printing press, the flat surface on which the type, blocks or plates are laid for printing.
29
noun
Either flat face of a cut stone that lies level when the stone is set in a wall.
30
noun
The underside of a brick, roof slate, or tile, the face that sits against what is below it.
31
verb
Of deer or other big game, to lie down and rest, usually in a sheltered spot.
32
verb
To shape and smooth the upper or lower face of a stone so it forms a level joint in masonry.
33
verb
Of a machine or heavy structure, to sink slightly and come to rest firmly on its base.

Practice

Can you tell the meanings of bed apart? Answer 3 quick questions from this page, or write your own sentence and AI will check it.

Origin

Inherited through Middle English "bed" from Old English "bedd," from Proto-Germanic "*badją" meaning "resting-place" or "plot of ground." It is cognate with Dutch "bed," German "Bett," and Swedish "bädd," and the Proto-Germanic word may ultimately go back to a Proto-Indo-European root "*bʰedʰ-" meaning "to dig."

Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 3 facts

English bed was inherited through Middle English bed from Old English bedd and ultimately Proto-Germanic *badją, glossed as resting-place or plot of ground. en.wiktionary.org
Bed is cognate with Dutch bed, German Bett, and Swedish bädd. en.wiktionary.org
Proto-Germanic *badją may derive from a Proto-Indo-European root meaning to dig; *bʰedʰ- is an alternative reconstruction of that root. en.wiktionary.org