mat

UK: /ˈmæt/ US: /mæt/ ,(mat)

Inflections of 'mat' (v): (⇒ conjugate)

mats

v 3rd person singular

matting

v pres p

matted

v past

matted

v past p

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

mat¹ /mæt/   n., v., mat•ted, mat•ting. 
n. [countable]

1. a piece of fabric used on a floor as a covering:
   a floor mat.
2. a piece of material set under an object, as a dish:
   a place mat.
3. Sport a thick pad placed on a floor to protect wrestlers and gymnasts.
4. Botany a thick tangled mass, as of weeds or hair.

v. 

5. to form into a tangled mass: [no object]
   Her hair matted from the sweat.
   [~ + object]
   The rain matted his hair.
6. Idioms go to the mat, [~ (+ for + object)] to support or defend a person or cause with determination:
   promised he'd go to the mat for her when she came up for review.

mat² /mæt/   n., v., mat•ted, mat•ting. 
n. [countable]

1. Fine Art material serving as a frame or border for a picture.

v. [~ + object]

2. Photography, Fine Art to provide (a picture) with a mat.

mat³ /mæt/   adj., n., v., mat•ted, mat•ting. 

1. matte.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026

mat¹  (mat), n., v., mat•ted, mat•ting. 
n. 

1. a piece of fabric made of plaited or woven rushes, straw, hemp, or similar fiber, or of some other pliant material, as rubber, used as a protective covering on a floor or other surface, to wipe the shoes on, etc.
2. a smaller piece of material, often ornamental, set under a dish of food, a lamp, vase, etc.
3. Sport
   • the padded canvas covering the entire floor of a wrestling ring, for protecting the contestants from injury when thrown.
   • a thick pad placed on the floor for the protection of tumblers and others engaged in gymnastic sports.
4. Botany a thickly growing or thick and tangled mass, as of hair or weeds.
5. a sack made of matting, as for coffee or sugar.
6. Building a slablike footing of concrete, esp. one for an entire building.
7. Building a heavy mesh reinforcement for a concrete slab.
8. Idioms go to the mat, to contend or struggle in a determined or unyielding way:
   The President is going to the mat with Congress over the proposed budget cuts.

v.t. 

9. to cover with or as if with mats or matting.
10. to form into a mat, as by interweaving.

v.i. 

11. Botany to become entangled;
    form tangled masses.

• Semitic; compare Hebrew mittāh bed
• Late Latin matta mat of rushes
• Middle English, Old English matte bef. 900

mat′less, adj. 

mat²  (mat), n., v., mat•ted, mat•ting. 
n. 

1. Photography, Fine Art a piece of cardboard or other material placed over or under a drawing, painting, photograph, etc., to serve as a frame or provide a border between the picture and the frame.

v.t. 

2. Photography, Fine Art to provide (a picture) with a mat.

• apparently mat¹, influenced by matte¹ 1835–40

mat³  (mat), adj., n., v., mat•ted, mat•ting. 

1. Cinema matte¹.

mat⁴  (mat), n. [Print.]

1. Printing the intaglio, usually of papiermâché, impressed from type or a cut, from which a stereotype plate is cast.
2. Printing matrix (def. 8).

• shortened form of matrix 1920–25

mat., 

1. matins.
2. maturity.

M.A.T., 

1. Education Master of Arts in Teaching.

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

mat / mæt/ noun

1. a thick flat piece of fabric used as a floor covering, a place to wipe one's shoes, etc
2. a smaller pad of material used to protect a surface from the heat, scratches, etc, of an object placed upon it
3. a large piece of thick padded material put on the floor as a surface for wrestling, judo, or gymnastic sports
4. any surface or mass that is densely interwoven or tangled: a mat of grass and weeds
5. short for mattress3

verb (mats, matting, matted)

1. to tangle or weave or become tangled or woven into a dense mass
2. (transitive) to cover with a mat or mats

Etymology: Old English matte; related to Old High German matta

mat / mæt/ noun

1. a border of cardboard, cloth, etc, placed around a picture to act as a frame or as a contrast between picture and frame

adjective

1. having a dull, lustreless, or roughened surface

verb (mats, matting, matted)(transitive)

1. to furnish (a picture) with a mat
2. to give (a surface) a mat finish

Also (for senses 2, 3, 5): matt Etymology: 17th Century: from French, literally: dead; see checkmate

mat / mæt/ noun

1. 
   short for matrix5

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

matte¹ or mat  or matt /mæt/   adj., n., v., mat•ted or matt•ed, mat•ting or matt•ing. 
adj. 

1. having a dull surface;
   not shiny or glossy:
   matte paint.

n. [countable]

2. a dull surface, as on metals, paint, paper, or glass.

v. [~ + object]

3. to finish with a matte surface.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026

matte¹  (mat), adj., n., v., mat•ted, mat•ting. 
adj. 

1. having a dull or lusterless surface:
   matte paint;
   a matte complexion;
   a photograph with a matte finish.

n. 

2. a dull or dead surface, often slightly roughened, as on metals, paint, paper, or glass.
3. a tool for producing such a surface.
4. Metallurgy an unfinished metallic product of the smelting of certain sulfide ores, esp. those of copper.
5. Cinema [Motion Pictures.] See matte shot. 

v.t. 

6. to finish with a matte surface.

Also, mat, matt. 

• *maditus, derivative of Latin madēre to be wet
• Late Latin mattus moist, soft, weak, perh.
• French mat (masculine), matte (feminine), Old French
• 1640–50

matte²  (mat), n. [Mining.]

1. Mining a mass of timber caved beneath overburden so as to cushion the fall of the overburden and separate it from mineral to be extracted beneath.

• German; akin to mat¹

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

mat. abbreviation

1. matinée