any soft material used to pad clothes, furniture, etc superfluous material put into a speech or written work to pad it out; waffle inflated or false entries in a financial account, esp an expense account
WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026
pad•ding /ˈpædɪŋ/USA pronunciation
n. [uncountable]
WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026- material, as cotton or straw, used to pad something.
- something added but not needed.
pad1 /pæd/USA pronunciation
n., v., pad•ded, pad•ding.
n. [countable]
v. [~ + object]
pad2 /pæd/USA pronunciation n., v., pad•ded, pad•ding.
n. [countable]
v. [no object]
WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026n. [countable]
- a mass of soft material used for comfort or protection, for applying medicine, or for stuffing:The roller skaters wore knee pads.
- a number of sheets of paper glued together at one edge, used for writing, drawing, etc.:Bring in a pad and pencil.
- Zoology
- the fleshy, cushionlike mass of tissue on the underside of each finger and toe.
- Slang Terms
- one's living quarters:Come up to my pad for the weekend.
v. [~ + object]
- to provide with a pad or padding:The dress was padded at the shoulders.
- to expand or add to without need or in a dishonest way:padded his expense account.
- Idioms on the pad, [Slang.](of a police officer) receiving bribes, esp. on a regular basis.
pad2 /pæd/USA pronunciation n., v., pad•ded, pad•ding.
n. [countable]
- a dull, soft sound:the pad of our daughter's little feet as she came into the room.
v. [no object]
- to travel on foot;
walk:He padded off into the distance. - to walk so that one's footsteps make a dull, soft sound:He padded softly behind her.
pad•ding
(pad′ing),USA pronunciation n.
WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026- material, as cotton or straw, used to pad something.
- something added unnecessarily or dishonestly, as verbiage to a speech or a false charge on an expense account.
- the act of a person or thing that pads.
- pad1 + -ing1 1820–30
pad1
(pad),USA pronunciation n., v., pad•ded, pad•ding.
n.
n.
n.
- a cushionlike mass of soft material used for comfort, protection, or stuffing.
- Dog and Cat Breeds, a soft, stuffed cushion used as a saddle;
a padded leather saddle without a tree. - a number of sheets of paper glued or otherwise held together at one edge to form a tablet.
- a soft, ink-soaked block of absorbent material for inking a rubber stamp.
- Anatomy, ZoologyAnat., Zool. any fleshy mass of tissue that cushions a weight-bearing part of the body, as on the underside of a paw. See diag. under dog.
- Zoologythe foot, as of a fox, hare, or wolf.
- Medicinea piece or fold of gauze or other absorbent material for use as a surgical dressing or a protective covering.
- ZoologyZool. a pulvillus, as on the tarsus or foot of an insect.
- Botanya lily pad.
- RocketrySee launch pad.
- Slang Terms
- one's living quarters, as an apartment or room.
- one's bed.
- a room where people gather to take narcotics;
an addicts' den.
- Slang Terms
- money paid as a bribe to and shared among police officers, as for ignoring law violations.
- a list of police officers receiving such money.
- ElectricityElect. a nonadjustable attenuator consisting of a network of fixed resistors.
- BuildingShipbuilding.
- a metal plate riveted or welded to a surface as a base or attachment for bolts, hooks, eyes, etc.
- a piece of wood laid on the back of a deck beam to give the deck surface a desired amount of camber.
- Building[Carpentry.]
- a handle for holding various small, interchangeable saw blades.
- Also, pod. a socket in a brace for a bit.
- MetallurgyMetall. a raised surface on a casting.
- Metallurgya small deposit of weld metal, as for building up a worn surface.
- Idioms, Slang Terms on the pad, [Slang.](of a police officer) receiving a bribe, esp. on a regular basis.
- to furnish, protect, fill out, or stuff with a pad or padding.
- to expand or add to unnecessarily or dishonestly: to pad a speech;
to pad an expense account. - Metallurgyto add metal to (a casting) above its required dimensions, to insure the flow of enough metal to all parts.
- Metallurgyto insure the proper forging of a piece.
- origin, originally special uses of obsolete pad bundle to lie on, perh. blend of, blended pack1 and bed 1545–55
v.t.
v.i.
n.
- a dull, muffled sound, as of footsteps on the ground.
- Dog and Cat Breedsa road horse, as distinguished from a hunting or working horse.
- a highwayman.
- British TermsBrit. Dial. a path, lane, or road.
- to travel along on foot.
- to beat down by treading.
- to travel on foot;
walk. - to walk so that one's footsteps make a dull, muffled sound.
- Middle Dutch padden to make or follow a path, cognate with Old English pæththan to traverse, derivative of pæth path; defs. 1, 8 perh. represent an independent expressive word that has been influenced by other senses
- Middle Dutch or Low German pad path (origin, originally argot; hence, apparently, "highwayman'' and "horse''); (verb, verbal)
- (noun, nominal) 1545–55
v.t.
v.i.
- AbbreviationsPennsylvania Dutch.
Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
a thick piece of soft material used to make something comfortable, give it shape, or protect it - Also called: stamp pad, ink pad
a block of firm absorbent material soaked with ink for transferring to a rubber stamp - Also called: notepad, writing pad
a number of sheets of paper fastened together along one edge a flat piece of stiff material used to back a piece of blotting paper the fleshy cushion-like underpart of the foot of a cat, dog, etc any of the parts constituting such a structure any of various level surfaces or flat-topped structures, such as a launch pad the large flat floating leaf of the water lily a person's residence
to line, stuff, or fill out with soft material, esp in order to protect or give shape to - (often followed by out)
to inflate with irrelevant or false information: to pad out a story
- (intr; often followed by along, up, etc)
to walk with a soft or muffled tread - when intr, often followed by around:
to travel (a route) on foot, esp at a slow pace; tramp: to pad around the country
a dull soft sound, esp of footsteps
short for footpad