# bed

Pronunciation: say "BED" /bɛd/

## Noun

1. A piece of furniture for sleeping or resting on, or the one where a particular person sleeps.
   - Simple: The piece of furniture you sleep on.
   - _He collapsed onto the bed after a long shift at the hospital._
   - _The new bed was far too firm for her liking._
2. A spot prepared for someone to spend the night.
   - Simple: A place made ready for someone to sleep for 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._
4. The solid ground forming the bottom of an ocean, sea, lake, or river.
   - Simple: The ground at the bottom of a river, lake, or sea.
   - _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._
5. A plot of ground prepared for growing flowers, vegetables, or other plants.
   - Simple: A small piece of ground where flowers or plants are grown.
   - _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._
6. The time for going to sleep, or the sleep or rest one gets in bed.
   - Simple: The time when you go to sleep, or the sleep you get, as in 'time for 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._
7. A place, flat surface or layer on which something else rests or is laid, such as greens under a serving of food.
   - Simple: A flat layer or place that something else sits on.
   - _The grilled salmon was served on a bed of wild rice._
   - _Workers spread a bed of crushed gravel before setting the paving stones._
8. Short for bedroom: used mainly in counting the rooms of a home, as in a three-bed apartment. — Clipping of bedroom.
   - Simple: Short for bedroom: used mainly to count rooms, as in a two-bed apartment.
   - _The apartment is listed as a three-bed with two bathrooms._
   - _She is hunting for a one-bed near the train station._
9. The flat platform of a truck, trailer, or railcar that supports the load being hauled. *(Canada, US)*
   - Simple: The flat part of a truck or trailer that holds the load.
   - _He stacked the lumber across the bed of the flatbed trailer._
   - _The truck bed was rusted through after years of hauling gravel._
10. Sexual activity, referred to indirectly through the image of the bed.
   - Simple: A polite way of referring to sex between people.
   - _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._
11. A layer of rock, or of coal, ore, or a similar material, lying within the ground.
   - Simple: A layer of rock, coal, or other material under 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._
12. An area on the seafloor where large numbers of oysters, mussels, or other shellfish, or masses of seaweed, are found.
   - Simple: An area underwater where many oysters, mussels, or 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._
17. The foundation of ballast and packed earthwork on which the rails and ties of a railroad are laid.
   - Simple: The layer of crushed stone and packed earth that supports railroad tracks.
   - _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._
18. The taut, springy surface of a trampoline, stretched across the frame, on which a person bounces.
   - Simple: The strong, tight cloth held across a trampoline's frame by springs, which you bounce on.
   - _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._
19. A foundation or supporting surface formed of a fluid, such as a cushion of air or a film of liquid.
   - Simple: A layer of liquid or gas that holds something up or supports it.
   - _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._
20. The flat platform on a scanner where a document lies while its image is captured.
   - Simple: The flat glass surface of a scanner where you place a page to copy it.
   - _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._
22. 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.
   - Simple: Space for one patient in a hospital or similar place, with the staff and equipment needed to care for them.
   - _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._

## Verb

3. To go to bed and settle down to sleep.
   - Simple: To go to sleep for the night.
   - _Campers usually bed down soon after the fire dies out._
   - _The shepherds bedded down close to their flock for warmth._
13. To have sexual intercourse with someone.
   - Simple: To have sex with someone.
   - _He would bed anyone who flattered him at court._
   - _The general bedded the spy without ever suspecting her motives._
14. To put a person or animal to bed, or to provide them with a bed or place to sleep.
   - Simple: To put someone in a bed, or to give them a 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._
16. To set out plants in a garden bed, placing them into prepared ground.
   - Simple: To plant flowers or other plants into a prepared patch of soil.
   - _The gardeners bed the seedlings as soon as the frost has passed._
   - _She likes to bed marigolds around the vegetable patch to deter pests._
21. To set or fix something into a surrounding material so that it rests securely; to embed.
   - Simple: To set something firmly into a soft or hollow surface so it stays in place.
   - _The diver bedded the anchor firmly into the muddy seabed._
   - _Engineers bed the cables deep in concrete to shield them from damage._

## Noun

15. Marriage considered as the union of two spouses, especially with regard to legitimate offspring. *(archaic)*
   - Simple: Marriage, or the bond between two people who are married.

## Other meanings

- (noun) A piece of music, usually instrumental, played quietly underneath a radio DJ's speech.
- (verb) To lay something flat or in order, placing it in a horizontal or resting position.
- (noun) A course of stone or brick forming one horizontal layer in a wall.
- (noun) Any of the scoring sections of a dartboard that carry a point value, each separated from the next by a wire.
- (noun) A wooden block or frame cut to fit under a barrel so that it rests off a ship's deck or hold bottom.
- (noun) In a printing press, the flat surface on which the type, blocks or plates are laid for printing.
- (noun) Either flat face of a cut stone that lies level when the stone is set in a wall.
- (noun) The underside of a brick, roof slate, or tile, the face that sits against what is below it.
- (verb) Of deer or other big game, to lie down and rest, usually in a sheltered spot.
- (verb) To shape and smooth the upper or lower face of a stone so it forms a level joint in masonry.
- (verb) Of a machine or heavy structure, to sink slightly and come to rest firmly on its base.

## 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."

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/bed (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).