Library / English Dictionary

CUSHION

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

A soft bag filled with air or a mass of padding such as feathers or foam rubber etc.

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

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

cushioning; padding (artifact consisting of soft or resilient material used to fill or give shape or protect or add comfort)

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

air cushion; inflatable cushion (a cushion usually made of rubber or plastic that can be inflated)

gaddi (a cushion on a throne for a prince in India)

hassock (a cushion for kneeling on (as when praying in church))

head restraint; headrest (a cushion attached to the top of the back of an automobile's seat to prevent whiplash)

pillow (a cushion to support the head of a sleeping person)

pincushion (a small stiff cushion into which pins are stuck ready for use)

seat cushion (a cushion that makes a seat more comfortable)

throw pillow (a small cushion that is used for decorative purposes)

Derivation:

cushiony (softened by the addition of cushions or padding)

Sense 2

Meaning:

The layer of air that supports a hovercraft or similar vehicle

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

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

bed; layer (single thickness of usually some homogeneous substance)

Sense 3

Meaning:

A mechanical damper; absorbs energy of sudden impulses

Example:

the old car needed a new set of shocks

Synonyms:

cushion; shock; shock absorber

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

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

damper; muffler (a device that decreases the amplitude of electronic, mechanical, acoustical, or aerodynamic oscillations)

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

air cushion; air spring (a mechanical device using confined air to absorb the shock of motion)

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

suspension; suspension system (a mechanical system of springs or shock absorbers connecting the wheels and axles to the chassis of a wheeled vehicle)

Derivation:

cushion (protect from impact)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Protect from impact

Example:

cushion the blow

Synonyms:

buffer; cushion; soften

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

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

modify (make less severe or harsh or extreme)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s something

Derivation:

cushion (a mechanical damper; absorbs energy of sudden impulses)

cushioning (artifact consisting of soft or resilient material used to fill or give shape or protect or add comfort)

Credits

 Context examples: 

“I trust that you have taken no hurt, my fair lady,” said Alleyne, conducting her to the bank, upon which John had already placed a cushion.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Normally, this fluid cushions your brain.

(Hydrocephalus, NIH: National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke)

A protective or cushioning material applied to a projecting or supporting surface of a device.

(Pad Device Component, NCI Thesaurus)

The invalid sank back upon his cushions, tired out by this long recital, while his nurse poured him out a glass of some stimulating medicine.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

"Oh! That does me no end of good. Tell on, please," he said, taking his face out of the sofa cushion, red and shining with merriment.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

I knelt down by him; I turned his face from the cushion to me; I kissed his cheek; I smoothed his hair with my hand.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

The great reptilian hearts, however, each as large as a cushion, still lay there, beating slowly and steadily, with a gentle rise and fall, in horrible independent life.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

A bursa is a small, fluid-filled sac that acts as a cushion between a bone and other moving parts, such as muscles, tendons, or skin.

(Bursitis, NIH: National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases)

A cushion or support for the head or other body part; usually consisting of a cloth case surrounding a filler of feathers, down, plastic fibers, latex, rubber, or other foam material.

(Pillow, NCI Thesaurus)

A congenital heart malformation characterized by abnormalities in the anatomic structures that relate to the endocardial cushions.

(Atrioventricular Septal Defect, NCI Thesaurus)