quilt

UK: /ˈkwɪlt/ US: /kwɪlt/ ,(kwilt)

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2025

quilt /kwɪlt/   n. [countable]

1. Clothing a covering for a bed, made of two layers of fabric with some soft substance between them and stitched in patterns.
2. Clothing anything quilted or resembling a quilt.

v. 

3. Clothing [~ + object] to stitch together (two pieces of cloth and a soft interlining), usually in an ornamental pattern.
4. Clothing [no object] to make quilts or quilted work.

quilt•ed, adj.: 

a quilted down comforter.

quilt•er, n. [countable]
quilt•ing, n. [uncountable]

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025

quilt  (kwilt), n. 

1. Clothing a coverlet for a bed, made of two layers of fabric with some soft substance, as wool or down, between them and stitched in patterns or tufted through all thicknesses in order to prevent the filling from shifting.
2. Clothing anything quilted or resembling a quilt.
3. Clothing a bedspread or counterpane, esp. a thick one.
4. Clothing [Obs.] a mattress.

v.t. 

5. Clothing to stitch together (two pieces of cloth and a soft interlining), usually in an ornamental pattern.
6. Clothing to sew up between pieces of material.
7. Clothing to pad or line with material.

v.i. 

8. Clothing to make quilts or quilted work.

• Latin culcita mattress, cushion
• Old French cuilte
• Middle English quilte 1250–1300

quilt′er, n. 

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

quilt / kwɪlt/ noun

1. a thick warm cover for a bed, consisting of a soft filling sewn between two layers of material, usually with crisscross seams
2. a bedspread or counterpane
3. anything quilted or resembling a quilt

verb (transitive)

1. to stitch together (two pieces of fabric) with (a thick padding or lining) between them
2. to create (a garment, covering, etc) in this way
3. to pad with material

Etymology: 13th Century: from Old French coilte mattress, from Latin culcita stuffed item of bedding

ˈquilter noun