bed

plural beds

1. countableA piece of furniture, usually flat and soft, on which to rest or sleep.

   My cat often sleeps on my bed.

   2 more examples

   I keep a glass of water next to my bed when I sleep.

   At length, one night, when the company by ſome accident broke up much ſooner than ordinary, ſo that the candles were not half burnt out, ſhe was not able to reſiſt the temptation, but reſolved to have them ſome way or other. Accordingly, as ſoon as the hurry was over, and the ſervants, as ſhe thought, all gone to ſleep, ſhe ſtole out of her bed, and went down ſtairs, naked to her ſhift as ſhe was, with a deſign to ſteal them[…].

   1762, Charles Johnstone, The Reverie; or, A Flight to the Paradise of Fools, volume 2, Dublin: Printed by Dillon Chamberlaine, →OCLC, page 202

   1. countableA mattress.

      I find her bed too soft.

   2. countableA bedframe.

      That huge wood bed is too heavy for us to carry it that far.

   3. countableuncountableA prepared spot in which to spend the night.

      When camping, he usually makes a bed for the night from hay and a blanket.

   4. countableuncountableusuallyOne's place of sleep or rest.

      Go to bed!

      1 more example

      I had breakfast in bed this morning.

   5. uncountableusuallySleep; rest; getting to sleep.

      He's been afraid of bed since he saw the scary film.

   6. uncountableusuallyThe time for going to sleep or resting in bed; bedtime.

      I read until bed.

   7. countableThe equipment, staffing, etc., required for a patient in a medical institution.

      We have a patient who needs a bed right away.

   8. uncountableTime spent in a bed.

      This condition is one of the dangers of “too much bed”. The nurse should inspect the legs of each patient daily

      1972, James Verney Cable, Principles of Medicine: An Integrated Textbook for Nurses

      2 more examples

      I am quite sure that too much bed, if not too much sleep, is prejudicial, though a certain amount is absolutely necessary.

      1903, Thomas Stretch Dowse, Lectures on Massage and Electricity in the Treatment of Disease, page 276

      Some prisoners, indeed, are always up before the bell rings — such was my practice — they prefer to grope about in the dark to tossing about in the utter weariness of too much bed.

      1907, Jabez Spencer Balfour, My Prison Life, page 181

   9. countablefigurativelyuncountableMarriage.

      George, the eldest son of his second bed.

      1702–1704, Edward [Hyde, 1st] Earl of Clarendon, (please specify |book=I to XVI), in The History of the Rebellion and Civil Wars in England, Begun in the Year 1641. […], Oxford, Oxfordshire: Printed at the [Sheldonian] Theater

   10. figurativelyuncountableSexual activity.

       Too much bed, not enough rest.

   11. abbreviationclippingcountableuncountableClipping of bedroom.

       2 beds, 1 bath

2. countableuncountableA place, or flat surface or layer, on which something else rests or is laid.

   The meats and cheeses lay on a bed of lettuce.

   1. countableThe bottom of a body of water, such as an ocean, sea, lake, or river.First known use later 16ᵗʰc.

      sea bed

      2 more examples

      river bed

      There’s a lot of trash on the bed of the river.

   2. countableuncountableAn area where a large number of oysters, mussels, other sessile shellfish, or a large amount of seaweed is found.

      Oysters are farmed from their beds.

      1 more example

      I knew that there were kelp beds and reefs which could rip the bottoms from boats down in Skedans Bay.

      1941, Emily Carr, chapter 18, in Klee Wyck

   3. countableuncountableA planted plot of land, a garden plot.

      We added a new bush to our rose bed.

      1 more example

      Breezes blowing from beds of iris quickened her breath with their perfume; she saw the tufted lilacs sway in the wind, and the streamers of mauve-tinted wistaria swinging, all a-glisten with golden bees; she saw a crimson cardinal winging through the foliage, and amorous tanagers flashing like scarlet flames athwart the pines.

      1907 August, Robert W[illiam] Chambers, “Afterglow”, in The Younger Set, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company, →OCLC, page 168

   4. countableuncountableA foundation or supporting surface formed of a fluid.

      A bed of concrete makes a strong subsurface for an asphalt parking lot.

   5. countableuncountableThe superficial earthwork, or ballast, of a railroad.
   6. CanadaUScountableuncountableautomotiveThe platform of a truck, trailer, wagon, railcar, or other vehicle that supports the load to be hauled.

      The parcels were loaded onto the truck bed before transportation.

      Synonyms: tray

   7. countableuncountableA shaped piece of timber to hold a cask clear of a ship’s floor; a pallet.
   8. countabledateduncountablemediaThe flat part of the press, on which the form is laid.
   9. countableuncountablecomputingThe flat surface of a scanner on which a document is placed to be scanned.
   10. countableuncountableentertainmentA piece of music, normally instrumental, over which a radio DJ talks.
   11. countableuncountabledartsAny of the sections of a dartboard with a point value, delimited by a wire.
   12. countableuncountableThe taut surface of a trampoline.

       These 5 judges mark the athlete's staying in the center of the bed, uniformity of bounce heights, and general style.

       2000, Sports: The Complete Visual Reference

3. A horizontal layer or surface.
   1. countableuncountableheadingA deposit of ore, coal, etc.
   2. countablegeographyThe smallest division of a geologic formation or stratigraphic rock series marked by well-defined divisional planes (bedding planes) separating it from layers above and below.

      Synonyms: layer, stratum

   3. countableuncountablebusinessThe horizontal surface of a building stone.

      the upper and lower beds

   4. countableuncountablebusinessThe lower surface of a brick, slate, or tile.
   5. countableuncountablebusinessA course of stone or brick in a wall.

present singular third person beds · participle present bedding · participle past bedded · past bedded

1. Senses relating to a bed as a place for resting or sleeping.
   1. intransitiveTo go to bed; to put oneself to sleep.

      I usually listen to music before I bed.

   2. transitiveTo place in a bed.

      For she was not only publicly contracted, but stated as a bride, and solemnly bedded, and after she was laid, there came in Maximilian's ambassador with letters of procuration

      1622, Francis, Lord Verulam, Viscount St. Alban [i.e. Francis Bacon], The Historie of the Raigne of King Henry the Seventh, […], London: […] W[illiam] Stansby for Matthew Lownes, and William Barret, →OCLC

   3. transitiveTo furnish with a bed or bedding.
   4. ambitransitiveTo have sex (with).First known use early 14th c.

      And he who lies with another Man's Wife after she is married, even before her Husband had bedded with her, is guilty of Adultery, […]

      1730, William Forbes, The Institutes of the Law of Scotland, page 121

      Synonyms: coitize, go to bed with, sleep with, Formal terms, coit, coitize, dight, enjoy

   5. intransitivehobbiesOf large game animals: to be at rest.
2. Senses relating to a bed as a place or layer on which something else rests or is laid.
   1. transitiveTo lay or put in any hollow place, or place of rest and security, surrounded or enclosed; to embed.

      1810/1835, William Wordsworth, Guide to the Lakes Among all chains or clusters of mountains where large bodies of still water are bedded.

      1 more example

      But I must warn you that chipboard floors are always likely to squeak. The material is still being used in new-builds, but developers now use adhesive to bed and joint it, rather than screws or nails. I suspect the adhesive will eventually embrittle and crack, resulting in the same squeaking problems as before.

      2014 August 17, Jeff Howell, “Home improvements: Repairing and replacing floorboards [print version: Never buy anything from a salesman, 16 August 2014, p. P7]”, in The Daily Telegraph (Property)

   2. transitiveTo set in a soft matrix, as paving stones in sand, or tiles in cement.
   3. transitiveTo set out (plants) in a garden bed.
   4. transitiveTo dress or prepare the surface of (stone) so it can serve as a bed.
   5. transitiveTo lay flat; to lay in order; to place in a horizontal or recumbent position.

      Your bedded hair like life in excrements

      c. 1599–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene iv]

   6. To settle, as machinery.

plural BEDs

1. alternativeAlternative form of B.Ed. (Bachelor of Education).
2. abbreviationinitialismInitialism of banana equivalent dose.
3. abbreviationinitialismInitialism of binge eating disorder.