1
a
: a thin flat mat or cushion: such as
(1)
: a guard worn to shield body parts against impact
(2)
(3)
: padding used to shape an article of clothing
(4)
: a piece of usually folded absorbent material (such as gauze) used as a surgical dressing or protective covering
(5)
: a component of certain brake systems (such as disc brakes) consisting of a plate covered with a frictional material
(6)
: a piece of soft stuffed material used as or under a saddle
b
: a piece of material saturated with ink for inking the surface of a rubber stamp
2
: a collection of sheets of paper glued or fastened together at one end
3
a
: the cushioned thickening of the underside of the toes of an animal
b
: the foot of an animal
4
a
: living quarters
b
: bed
5
a(1)
: an area used for helicopter takeoffs and landings
(2)
: a section of an airstrip used for warm-ups or turnarounds
c
: a horizontal concrete surface (as for parking a mobile home)
6
a
: a floating leaf of a water plant
b
: the flattened, fleshy, paddle-shaped stem segment of a cactus (such as a prickly pear)
padded; padding
2
: to expand or increase especially with needless, misleading, or fraudulent matter
pad the sales figures
—often used with outthey pad out their bibliographies—
J. P. Kenyon
J. P. Kenyon
padded; padding
: to traverse on foot
: to go on foot : walk
especially
: to walk with or as if with padded feet
the dog padded along beside him
padding around in bedroom slippers
: a soft muffled or slapping sound
Examples of pad in a Sentence
Noun (1)
the waitress keeps a pad in the pocket of her apron to write down orders
I went back to my pad to get some rest
a pad on the chair to keep it from getting scratched
welcome to my pad
Verb (1)
the journalist was fired for padding certain stories to make them more interesting
Verb (2)
a cat padded silently by
Recent Examples on the Web
Denise Chow, NBC News, 7 Mar. 2025
Repeating a feat SpaceX accomplished with Starship twice before, the rocket's Super Heavy booster separated from the Starship upper stage roughly two-and-a-half minutes into the flight, then guided itself back to the Texas coastline for a catch by mechanical arms on the launch pad's tower.
—Stephen Clark, Ars Technica, 7 Mar. 2025
Clint Davis, People.com, 8 Mar. 2025
Padding: The interior of either a soft- or hard-sided case should have padding to protect your golf gear throughout the journey.
—Bestreviews, The Mercury News, 4 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for pad
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
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Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Noun
The 400-foot-tall Starship system rocketed off the launch pad at SpaceX’s Starbase site near Brownsville, Texas, at 6:30 p.m. ET for its eighth test flight.
—Denise Chow, NBC News, 7 Mar. 2025
Repeating a feat SpaceX accomplished with Starship twice before, the rocket's Super Heavy booster separated from the Starship upper stage roughly two-and-a-half minutes into the flight, then guided itself back to the Texas coastline for a catch by mechanical arms on the launch pad's tower.
—Stephen Clark, Ars Technica, 7 Mar. 2025
Verb
The ottoman is padded to offer comfort when using it as additional seating or as a footrest but is still structured enough to serve as an end table for books or drinks with a serving tray rested on top.
—Clint Davis, People.com, 8 Mar. 2025
Padding: The interior of either a soft- or hard-sided case should have padding to protect your golf gear throughout the journey.
—Bestreviews, The Mercury News, 4 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for pad
Articles Related to pad
Cite this Entry
“Pad.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pad. Accessed 22 Mar. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
pad
2 of 4 noun1
a
: a thin flat mat or cushion
b
: a guard worn to shield body parts against impact
c
: a piece of usually folded absorbent material (as gauze)
d
: a piece of material that holds ink for inking a rubber stamp
2
a
: the hairy foot of some mammals (as a fox or hare)
b
: the soft thickening of the underside of the foot or toes of some mammals (as dogs)
3
: a floating leaf of a water plant
4
: a number of sheets of writing paper glued together at one edge
5
6
a
: living quarters : home
pad
3 of 4 verb
padded; padding
1
: to furnish with a pad or padding
2
: to expand with unnecessary or unimportant material
pad a speech
pad
4 of 4 noun
: a soft muffled or slapping sound
Etymology
Verb
probably from early Dutch paden "to follow a path"
Noun
origin unknown
Medical Definition
pad
1 of 2 noun1
a
: 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
b
2
: a part of the body or of an appendage that resembles or is suggestive of a cushion : a thick fleshy resilient part: as
a
: the sole of the foot or underside of the toes of an animal (as a dog) that is typically thickened so as to form a cushion
b
: the underside of the extremities of the fingers
especially
: the ball of the thumb
PAD
2 of 2 abbreviation
peripheral arterial disease
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