bedding

UK: /ˈbɛdɪŋ/ US: /ˈbɛdɪŋ/ ,(bed′ing)

From the verb bed: (⇒ conjugate)

bedding is: ⓘ

v pres p

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026

bed•ding /ˈbɛdɪŋ/   n. [uncountable]

1. bedclothes.
2. litter, straw, dried grass, etc., used as a bed for animals:
   the bedding in a barn stall.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026

bed•ding  (bed′ing), n. 

1. blankets, sheets, etc., used on a bed;
   bedclothes.
2. bedclothes together with a matress.
3. litter;
   straw, etc., as a bed for animals.
4. Building
   • a foundation or bottom layer.
   • a thin layer of putty laid in the rabbet of a window frame or muntin to give a pane of glass an even backing.
5. Geology arrangement of sedimentary rocks in strata.

adj. 

6. Botany [Hort.] of or pertaining to a plant esp. suited to or prepared for planting in an open-air bed for ornamental displays:
   bedding hyacinths; bedding begonias.

• bef. 1000; Middle English, Old English; see bed, -ing¹

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

bedding / ˈbɛdɪŋ/ noun

1. bedclothes, sometimes considered together with a mattress
2. litter, such as straw, for animals
3. something acting as a foundation, such as mortar under a brick
4. the arrangement of a mass of rocks into distinct layers; stratification

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026

bed /bɛd/   n., v., bed•ded, bed•ding. 
n. 

1. Furniture a piece of furniture on which one sleeps or rests:
   [countable] The hotel room had two double beds.
2. the act of or time for sleeping:
   [uncountable] It's time for bed!
3. an area of ground for growing plants:
   [countable] a flower bed.
4. Geography the bottom of a body of water:
   [countable] the sea bed.
5. [countable] an area on the bottom of a body of water that has a supply of plant or animal life:
   an oyster bed.

v. [~ + object]

6. to provide with or put to a bed:
   We bedded them for a week.

Idioms

7. Idioms get up on the wrong side of the bed, to be cranky and fussy from the moment one awakes:
   He's mean today; he must have gotten up on the wrong side of the bed.
8. Idioms go to bed, [no object]
   • to retire, esp. for the night:
     They're really tired, let them go to bed.
9. Idioms go to bed with, [~ + object] to have sexual relations with:
   He just wants to go to bed with you.
10. Idioms in bed,
    • beneath the covers of a bed:
      still in bed at two in the afternoon.
    • having sexual intercourse:
      found him in bed with his secretary.
11. Idioms make a bed, to fit a bed with sheets and blankets.

B.Ed., 

1. an abbreviation of: Bachelor of Education.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026

bed  (bed), n., v., bed•ded, bed•ding. 
n. 

1. Furniture a piece of furniture upon which or within which a person sleeps, rests, or stays when not well.
2. Furniture the mattress and bedclothes together with the bedstead of a bed.
3. Furniture the bedstead alone.
4. the act of or time for sleeping:
   Now for a cup of cocoa and then bed.
5. the use of a bed for the night;
   lodging:
   I reserved a bed at the old inn.
6. the marital relationship.
7. any resting place:
   making his bed under a tree.
8. something resembling a bed in form or position.
9. a piece or area of ground in a garden or lawn in which plants are grown.
10. an area in a greenhouse in which plants are grown.
11. the plants in such areas.
12. the bottom of a lake, river, sea, or other body of water.
13. a piece or part forming a foundation or base.
14. Geology a layer of rock;
    a stratum.
15. Civil Engineering a foundation surface of earth or rock supporting a track, pavement, or the like:
    a gravel bed for the roadway.
16. Building
    • the underside of a stone, brick, slate, tile, etc., laid in position.
    • Building the upper side of a stone laid in position.
    • the layer of mortar in which a brick, stone, etc., is laid.
    • Building the natural stratification of a stone:
      a stone laid on bed.
17. Furniture skirt (def. 6b).
18. Printing the flat surface in a printing press on which the form of type is laid.
19. Transport the body or, sometimes, the floor or bottom of a truck or trailer.
20. Chemistry a compact mass of a substance functioning in a reaction as a catalyst or reactant.
21. Sport
    • the canvas surface of a trampoline.
    • the smooth, wooden floor of a bowling alley.
    • the slate surface of a billiard table to which the cloth is fastened.
22. Zoology flesh enveloping the base of a claw, esp. the germinative layer beneath the claw.
23. Nautical Also called mock, mock mold. [Shipbuilding.] a shaped steel pattern upon which furnaced plates for the hull of a vessel are hammered to shape.
24. See bed and board. 
25. Idioms get up on the wrong side of the bed, to be irritable or bad-tempered from the start of a day:
    Never try to reason with him when he's gotten up on the wrong side of the bed.
26. Idioms go to bed:
    • to retire, esp. for the night.
    • to engage in sexual relations.
27. Idioms go to bed with, to have sexual intercourse with.
28. Idioms in bed:
    • beneath the covers of a bed.
    • engaged in sexual intercourse.
29. Idioms jump or get into bed with, to form a close, often temporary, alliance, usually with an unlikely ally:
    Industry was charged with jumping into bed with labor on the issue.
30. Idioms make a bed, to fit a bed with sheets and blankets.
31. Idioms make one's bed, to be responsible for one's own actions and their results:
    You've made your bed--now lie in it.
32. put to bed:
    • to help (a child, invalid, etc.) go to bed.
    • Printing to lock up (forms) in a press in preparation for printing.
    • Printing to work on the preparation of (an edition of a newspaper, periodical, etc.) up to the time of going to press.

v.t. 

33. to provide with a bed.
34. to put to bed.
35. Botany [Hort.] to plant in or as in a bed.
36. to lay flat.
37. to place in a bed or layer:
    to bed oysters.
38. to embed, as in a substance:
    bedding the flagstones in concrete.
39. to take or accompany to bed for purposes of sexual intercourse.

v.i. 

40. to have sleeping accommodations:
    He says we can bed there for the night.
41. Geology to form a compact layer or stratum.
42. Metallurgy (of a metal structural part) to lie flat or close against another part.
43. [Archaic.] to go to bed.
44. bed down:
    • to make a bed for (a person, animal, etc.).
    • to retire to bed:
      They put out the fire and decided to bed down for the night.

• Gmc * badjaⁿ (neuter); akin to Latin fodere to dig, Old Church Slavonic bodǫ, Lithuanian bedù I pierce, Welsh bedd a grave; presumably a bed was dug out in the ground
• bef. 1000; Middle English; Old English bedd; cognate with Old Frisian, Dutch bed, Old Saxon bed(de), Old High German betti (German Bett), Gothic badi

bed′less, adj. 
bed′like′, adj. 
Synonyms

• 14. band, belt, seam, lode.

B.Ed., 

1. Bachelor of Education.

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

bed / bɛd/ noun

1. a piece of furniture on which to sleep
2. the mattress and bedclothes on such a piece of furniture: an unmade bed
3. sleep or rest: time for bed
4. any place in which a person or animal sleeps or rests
5. a unit of potential occupancy in a hospital or residential institution
6. sexual intercourse
7. a plot of ground in which plants are grown, esp when considered together with the plants in it
8. the bottom of a river, lake, or sea
9. a part of this used for cultivation of a plant or animal: oyster beds
10. a layer of crushed rock, gravel, etc, used as a foundation for a road, railway, etc
11. any underlying structure or part
12. a layer of rock, esp sedimentary rock
13. go to bed ⇒ (often followed by with) to have sexual intercourse (with)
14. (of a newspaper, magazine, etc) to go to press; start printing
15. in bed with ⇒ cooperating closely with (another person, organization, government, etc.) esp covertly
16. put to bed ⇒ to finalize work on (a newspaper, magazine, etc) so that it is ready to go to press
17. take to one's bed ⇒ to remain in bed, esp because of illness

verb (beds, bedding, bedded)

1. (usually followed by down) to go to or put into a place to sleep or rest
2. (transitive) to have sexual intercourse with
3. (transitive) to place, fix, or sink firmly into position; embed
4. to form or be arranged in a distinct layer; stratify
5. (transitive) often followed by out: to plant in a bed of soil

Etymology: Old English bedd; related to Old Norse bethr, Old High German betti, Gothic badi