Definition of "bed"

bed

/bɛd/

noun
plural beds
1. A piece of furniture, usually flat and soft, on which to rest or sleep.
  Quotations
  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 […].
  1762, Charles Johnstone, The Reverie; or, A Flight to the Paradise of Fools, volume 2, Dublin: Printed by Dillon Chamberlaine, page 202
  1. A prepared spot in which to spend the night.
  2. (usually after a preposition) One's place of sleep or rest.
  3. (uncountable, usually after a preposition) Sleep; rest; getting to sleep.
  4. (uncountable, usually after a preposition) The time for going to sleep or resting in bed; bedtime.
  5. (uncountable) Time spent in a bed.
    Quotations
    I am quite sure that too much bed, if not too much sleep, is prejudicial, though a certain amount is absolutely necessary.
    1903, Thomas Stretch Dowse, Lectures on Massage and Electricity in the Treatment of Disease, page 276
    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.
    1907, Jabez Spencer Balfour, My Prison Life, page 181
    This condition is one of the dangers of "too much bed". The nurse should inspect the legs of each patient daily
    1972, James Verney Cable, Principles of Medicine: An Integrated Textbook for Nurses
  6. (figurative) Marriage.
    Quotations
    George, the eldest son of his second bed.
    1702–1704, Edward [Hyde, 1st] Earl of Clarendon, “(please specify |book=I to XVI)”, in The History of the Rebellion and Civil Wars in England, Begun in the Year 1641. […], Oxford, Oxfordshire: Printed at the Theater, published 1707
  7. (figurative, uncountable) Sexual activity.
  8. Clipping of bedroom.
2. A place, or flat surface or layer, on which something else rests or is laid.
  1. The bottom of a body of water, such as an ocean, sea, lake, or river.
  2. An area where a large number of oysters, mussels, other sessile shellfish, or a large amount of seaweed is found.
    Quotations
    I knew that there were kelp beds and reefs which could rip the bottoms from boats down in Skedans Bay.
    1941, Emily Carr, chapter 18, in Klee Wyck‎
  3. A garden plot.
    Quotations
    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.
    1907 August, Robert W[illiam] Chambers, “Afterglow”, in The Younger Set, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company, page 168
  4. A foundation or supporting surface formed of a fluid.
  5. The superficial earthwork, or ballast, of a railroad.
  6. The platform of a truck, trailer, wagon, railcar, or other vehicle that supports the load to be hauled.
  7. A shaped piece of timber to hold a cask clear of a ship’s floor; a pallet.
  8. (printing, dated) The flat part of the press, on which the form is laid.
  9. (computing) The flat surface of a scanner on which a document is placed to be scanned.
  10. A piece of music, normally instrumental, over which a radio DJ talks.
  11. (darts) Any of the sections of a dartboard with a point value, delimited by a wire.
  12. (trampoline) The taut surface of a trampoline.
    Quotations
    These 5 judges mark the athlete's staying in the center of the bed, uniformity of bounce heights, and general style.
    2000, Sports: The Complete Visual Reference‎
3. (heading) A layer or surface.
  1. A deposit of ore, coal, etc.
  2. (geology) 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.
  3. (masonry) The horizontal surface of a building stone.
  4. (masonry) The lower surface of a brick, slate, or tile.
  5. (masonry) A course of stone or brick in a wall.
verb
third-person singular simple present beds, present participle bedding, simple past and past participle bedded
1. Senses relating to a bed as a place for resting or sleeping.
  1. (intransitive) To go to bed; to put oneself to sleep.
  2. (transitive) To place in a bed.
    Quotations
    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
    1622, Francis, Lord Verulam, Viscount St. Alban [i.e. Francis Bacon], The Historie of the Raigne of King Henry the Seventh, […], London: […] W[illiam] Stansby for Matthew Lownes, and William Barret
  3. (transitive) To furnish with a bed or bedding.
  4. (transitive, intransitive) To have sex (with).
    Quotations
    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, […]
    1730, William Forbes, The Institutes of the Law of Scotland, page 121
  5. (intransitive, hunting) Of large game animals: to be at rest.
2. Senses relating to a bed as a place or layer on which something else rests or is laid.
  1. (transitive) To lay or put in any hollow place, or place of rest and security, surrounded or enclosed; to embed.
    Quotations
    Among all chains or clusters of mountains where large bodies of still water are bedded.
    1810/1835, William Wordsworth, Guide to the Lakes
    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.
    2014 August 17, Jeff Howell, “Home improvements: Repairing and replacing floorboards ”, in The Daily Telegraph (Property)‎
  2. (transitive) To set in a soft matrix, as paving stones in sand, or tiles in cement.
  3. (transitive) To set out (plants) in a garden bed.
  4. (transitive) To dress or prepare the surface of (stone) so it can serve as a bed.
  5. (transitive) To lay flat; to lay in order; to place in a horizontal or recumbent position.
    Quotations
    Your bedded hair like life in excrements
    c. 1599–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, [Act III, scene iv]
  6. To settle, as machinery.