Library / English Dictionary

BED

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

Irregular inflected forms: bed    , bedded    , bedding   

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

A piece of furniture that provides a place to sleep

Example:

the room had only a bed and chair

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("bed" is a kind of...):

bedroom furniture (furniture intended for use in a bedroom)

Meronyms (parts of "bed"):

mattress (a large thick pad filled with resilient material and often incorporating coiled springs, used as a bed or part of a bed)

bedframe; bedstead (the framework of a bed)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "bed"):

twin bed (one of a pair of identical beds)

truckle; truckle bed; trundle; trundle bed (a low bed to be slid under a higher bed)

sleigh bed (a bed with solid headboard and footboard that roll outward at the top)

single bed (a bed for one occupant)

sickbed (the bed on which a sick person lies)

platform bed (a bed without springs)

plank-bed (a bed of boards (without a mattress))

Murphy bed (a bed that can be folded or swung into a cabinet when not being used)

marriage bed (the bed shared by a newly wed couple)

hammock; sack (a hanging bed of canvas or rope netting (usually suspended between two trees); swings easily)

four-poster (a bed with posts at the four corners that can be used to support a canopy or curtains)

double bed (a bed wide enough to accommodate two sleepers)

deathbed (the bed on which a person dies)

couch (a narrow bed on which a patient lies during psychiatric or psychoanalytic treatment)

camp bed; cot (a small bed that folds up for storage or transport)

bunk; bunk bed (beds built one above the other)

bunk (a rough bed (as at a campsite))

built-in bed (a bed that is built in and fixed to a wall)

berth; built in bed; bunk (a bed on a ship or train; usually in tiers)

water bed (a bed with a mattress made of strong plastic that is filled with water)

Holonyms ("bed" is a part of...):

bedchamber; bedroom; chamber; sleeping accommodation; sleeping room (a room used primarily for sleeping)

Derivation:

bed (have sexual intercourse with)

bed (put to bed)

bed (furnish with a bed)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A plot of ground in which plants are growing

Example:

the gardener planted a bed of roses

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("bed" is a kind of...):

patch; plot; plot of ground; plot of land (a small area of ground covered by specific vegetation)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "bed"):

turnip bed (a bed in which turnips are growing)

seedbed (a bed where seedlings are grown before transplanting)

hotbed (a bed of earth covered with glass and heated by rotting manure to promote the growth of plants)

bed of flowers; flower bed; flowerbed (a bed in which flowers are growing)

asparagus bed (a bed in which asparagus is growing)

Sense 3

Meaning:

A foundation of earth or rock supporting a road or railroad track

Example:

the track bed had washed away

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("bed" is a kind of...):

base; foot; foundation; fundament; groundwork; substructure; understructure (lowest support of a structure)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "bed"):

railroad bed (a bed on which railroad track is laid)

roadbed (a bed supporting a road)

Sense 4

Meaning:

The flat surface of a printing press on which the type form is laid in the last stage of producing a newspaper or magazine or book etc.

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("bed" is a kind of...):

surface (the outer boundary of an artifact or a material layer constituting or resembling such a boundary)

Holonyms ("bed" is a part of...):

press; printing press (a machine used for printing)

Sense 5

Meaning:

Single thickness of usually some homogeneous substance

Example:

slices of hard-boiled egg on a bed of spinach

Synonyms:

bed; layer

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("bed" is a kind of...):

artefact; artifact (a man-made object taken as a whole)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "bed"):

wall (a layer of material that encloses space)

tier (one of two or more layers one atop another)

ply ((usually in combinations) one of several layers of cloth or paper or wood as in plywood)

overlay (a layer of decorative material (such as gold leaf or wood veneer) applied over a surface)

lift (one of the layers forming the heel of a shoe or boot)

interlayer (a layer placed between other layers)

cushion (the layer of air that supports a hovercraft or similar vehicle)

course; row ((construction) a layer of masonry)

blanket (a layer of lead surrounding the highly reactive core of a nuclear reactor)

backing; mount (something forming a back that is added for strengthening)

Holonyms ("bed" is a part of...):

laminate (a sheet of material made by bonding two or more sheets or layers)

Sense 6

Meaning:

A stratum of ore or coal thick enough to be mined with profit

Example:

he worked in the coal beds

Synonyms:

bed; seam

Classified under:

Nouns denoting spatial position

Hypernyms ("bed" is a kind of...):

stratum (one of several parallel layers of material arranged one on top of another (such as a layer of tissue or cells in an organism or a layer of sedimentary rock))

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "bed"):

coal seam (a seam of coal)

Sense 7

Meaning:

A depression forming the ground under a body of water

Example:

he searched for treasure on the ocean bed

Synonyms:

bed; bottom

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural objects (not man-made)

Hypernyms ("bed" is a kind of...):

depression; natural depression (a sunken or depressed geological formation)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "bed"):

lake bed; lake bottom (the bottom of a lake)

Davy Jones; Davy Jones's locker; ocean bottom; ocean floor; sea bottom; sea floor; seabed (the bottom of a sea or ocean)

river bottom; riverbed (a channel occupied (or formerly occupied) by a river)

creek bed; streambed (a channel occupied (or formerly occupied) by a stream)

Sense 8

Meaning:

(geology) a stratum of rock (especially sedimentary rock)

Example:

they found a bed of sandstone

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural objects (not man-made)

Hypernyms ("bed" is a kind of...):

stratum (one of several parallel layers of material arranged one on top of another (such as a layer of tissue or cells in an organism or a layer of sedimentary rock))

Domain category:

geology (a science that deals with the history of the earth as recorded in rocks)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "bed"):

ore bed (a stratum of ore)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Prepare for sleep

Example:

He goes to bed at the crack of dawn

Synonyms:

bed; crawl in; go to bed; go to sleep; hit the hay; hit the sack; kip down; retire; sack out; turn in

Classified under:

Verbs of grooming, dressing and bodily care

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "bed"):

bed down; bunk down (go to bed)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s

Sense 2

Meaning:

Have sexual intercourse with

Example:

Were you ever intimate with this man?

Synonyms:

bang; be intimate; bed; bonk; do it; eff; fuck; get it on; get laid; have a go at it; have intercourse; have it away; have it off; have sex; hump; jazz; know; lie with; love; make love; make out; roll in the hay; screw; sleep together; sleep with

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Hypernyms (to "bed" is one way to...):

copulate; couple; mate; pair (engage in sexual intercourse)

Verb group:

make out; neck (kiss, embrace, or fondle with sexual passion)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "bed"):

have; take (have sex with; archaic use)

fornicate (have sex without being married)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s

Derivation:

bed (a piece of furniture that provides a place to sleep)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Put to bed

Example:

The children were bedded at ten o'clock

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Hypernyms (to "bed" is one way to...):

lay; place; pose; position; put; set (put into a certain place or abstract location)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s somebody

Derivation:

bed (a piece of furniture that provides a place to sleep)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Place (plants) in a prepared bed of soil

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Hypernyms (to "bed" is one way to...):

plant; set (put or set (seeds, seedlings, or plants) into the ground)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Sense 5

Meaning:

Furnish with a bed

Example:

The inn keeper could bed all the new arrivals

Classified under:

Verbs of buying, selling, owning

Hypernyms (to "bed" is one way to...):

furnish; provide; render; supply (give something useful or necessary to)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "bed"):

bunk (provide with a bunk)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

bed (a piece of furniture that provides a place to sleep)

Credits

 Context examples: 

I sat by his bed, watching him; his eyes were closed, and I thought he slept; but presently he called to me in a feeble voice, and bidding me come near, said, Alas!

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)

Nor would he allow anyone to leave the inn till he had drunk himself sleepy and reeled off to bed.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

I received Lanyon’s condemnation partly in a dream; it was partly in a dream that I came home to my own house and got into bed.

(The Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

It was he who ordered his valet to put half a dozen of sherry by his bed and call him the day after to-morrow.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

According to researchers at the Smithsonian Institution and the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, rain on Mars once carved river beds and created valleys much like rain on Earth has, and does.

(Heavy Rain May Have Once Fallen on Mars, VOA)

They wore standard hospital clothing and had bed sheets only.

(Cool temperature alters human fat and metabolism, NIH)

Understanding the molecular changes that potentially take place in microgravity could help researchers to develop treatments and therapies to counteract physical changes associated with aging and extended bed rest.

(Roundworms have the Right Stuff, NASA)

In fact, for every hour of variability in time to bed and time asleep, a person may have up to a 27% greater chance of experiencing a metabolic abnormality.

(Study links irregular sleep patterns to metabolic disorders, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

USDA-Agricultural Research Service scientists have identified coconut oil fatty acids that have strong repellency and long-lasting effectiveness against ticks, biting flies, mosquitoes and bed bugs.

(Coconut Oil Compounds Repel Insects Better than DEET, U.S. Department of Agriculture)

However, the wet and fractured ice along the southern coastline cluttered the radar soundings so that large swaths of the bed remained invisible.

(Hidden Greenland canyons mean more sea level rise, NASA)