cushion

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.


Posted in Letter Cc, Word of the Day.

发表回复