cushion – [ koosh-uhn ] – / ˈkʊʃ ən / – Noun
- a soft bag of cloth, leather, or rubber, filled with feathers, air, foam rubber, etc., on which to sit, kneel, or lie.
- anything similar in form, used to dampen shocks or to prevent excessive pressure or chafing.
- something to absorb or counteract a shock, jar, or jolt, as a body of air or steam.
- something that lessens the effects of hardship, distress, or the like: His inheritance was a cushion against unemployment. Anatomy, Zoology. any part or structure resembling a cushion.
the resilient raised rim encircling the top of a billiard table. - a pad worn under the hair by women.
- a portion of a radio or television script that can be adjusted in length or cut out altogether in order to end the program on time.
- Ice Hockey, Canadian. the iced surface of a rink.
- a pillow used in lacemaking.
- a leather pad on which gold leaf is placed preparatory to gilding.
verb (used with object)
- to place on or support by a cushion.
- to furnish with a cushion or cushions.
- to cover or conceal with, or as if with, a cushion.
- to lessen or soften the effects of: to cushion the blow to his pride.
- to suppress (complaints, lamentations, etc.) by quietly ignoring.
- to check the motion of (a piston or the like) by a cushion, as of steam.
- to form (steam or the like) into a cushion.
WORDS RELATED TO CUSHION
buffer, headrest, mat, bolster, dampen, insulate, soften, hassock, fender, rest, seat, sham, beanbag, squab, bumper, buttress, seclude, suppress, support, cradle
ORIGIN OF CUSHION
1300–50; Middle English cuisshin < Anglo-French; Middle French coussin ≪ Latin cōx(a) hip + -īnus -ine1.
SYNONYMS FOR CUSHION
- pad
- shock absorber
OTHER WORDS FROM CUSHION
- cush·ion·less, adjective
- cush·ion·like, adjective
- un·cush·ioned, adjective
- well-cush·ioned, adjective
SYNONYM STUDY FOR CUSHION
Cushion, pillow, bolster agree in being cases filled with a material more or less resilient, intended to be used as supports for the body or parts of it. A cushion is a soft pad used to sit, lie, or kneel on, or to lean against: cushions on a sofa; cushions on pews in a church. A pillow is a bag or case filled with feathers, down, or other soft material, usually to support the head: to sleep with a pillow under one’s head. A bolster is a firm pillow, long enough to extend the width of a bed and used as head support, with or without a pillow.
EXAMPLES FROM THE WEB FOR CUSHION
- I could give my parents this relief, this cushion that they never had.
- Once you have a bit of a cushion, we take 25% of your money.
- Ideally, we’d be growing fast now, to cushion against the inevitable slowdown.
- Obama won it by 10 percent, so he has a cushion here as well.
- But whatever the truth there, Obama still has a cushion in the state.
- “‘Cause if I lean back against the cushion my feet won’t touch the stool,” she said.
- You will find that the cushion business, and the mandolin business, and all that sort of thing, do not go in real life.
- Esmeralda turned her head on the cushion, and looked at him with a lazy smile.
- Finish by tacking a handsome fringe all round the cushion, so as to conceal the binding.
- He thought the cushion edged up-hill very oddly, and the seat seemed very hard.