Meanings
plural notches on one's bedpost · alternative notch in one's bedpost · alternative notch on the bedpost
- idiomaticoffensiveslangA sexual conquest; a casual sexual partner.
He was a notch on her bedpost, a stepping stone on her quest for stardom.
2002, Anne McAllister, The Great Montana Cowboy Auction, Silhouette Books, published 2002, →ISBN, page 223 more examples
She'd confused Sam's attentions with real feelings, and now she was just another notch on his bedpost.
2007, Melinda Curtis, Count on Love, Harlequin, published 2007, →ISBN, page 167Bad enough to think he'd wanted me as just another notch on his bedpost, but to think he'd tried to seduce me for cold-blooded political purposes was unbearable.
2010, Jenna Black, Glimmerglass, St. Martin's Press, published 2010, →ISBN, page 138[…] He wasn't a notch on her bedpost. They were in love, for crying out loud.
2011, Peter Robinson, Before the Poison, McClelland & Stewart, published 2011, →ISBNSynonyms: notch in one's belt, notch on one's belt, bedfellow, bedmate, fuck, hookup, lover, paramour
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA sexual conquest; a casual sexual partner.
Origin
From the practice of keeping track of the number of one's sexual liaisons by carving notches into the post of one's bed.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
notch on one's bedpost. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/notch%20on%20one's%20bedpost
“notch on one's bedpost.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/notch%20on%20one's%20bedpost. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “notch on one's bedpost,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/notch%20on%20one's%20bedpost.
Source: notch on one's bedpost on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.