bed meaning

UK /bɛd/ US /bɛd/ 1 syllable

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

bed has 13 meanings in this dictionary, as noun and verb.

bed as a noun

  1. a piece of furniture that provides a place to sleep
    • he sat on the edge of the bed
    • the room had only a bed and chair

    Type of: bedroom furniture

    Kinds: berth, built-in bed, bunk, bunk bed, cot, couch, deathbed, double bed, four-poster, hammock, marriage bed, Murphy bed

  2. a plot of ground in which plants are growing
    • the gardener planted a bed of roses

    Type of: plot

    Kinds: asparagus bed, flowerbed, hotbed, seedbed, turnip bed

  3. a depression forming the ground under a body of water
    • he searched for treasure on the ocean bed

    Synonyms: bottom

    Type of: natural depression

    Kinds: lake bed, ocean floor, riverbed, streambed

  4. (geology) a stratum of rock (especially sedimentary rock)
    • they found a bed of sandstone

    Type of: stratum

    Kinds: ore bed

  5. a stratum of ore or coal thick enough to be mined with profit
    • he worked in the coal beds

    Synonyms: seam

    Type of: stratum

    Kinds: coal seam

  6. single thickness of usually some homogeneous substance
    • slices of hard-boiled egg on a bed of spinach

    Synonyms: layer

    Type of: artifact

    Kinds: backing, blanket, course, cushion, interlayer, lift, overlay, ply, tier, wall

  7. 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.

    Type of: surface

  8. a foundation of earth or rock supporting a road or railroad track
    • the track bed had washed away

    Type of: foundation

    Kinds: railroad bed, roadbed

bed as a verb

  1. furnish with a bed
    • The inn keeper could bed all the new arrivals

    Type of: supply

    Kinds: bunk

  2. place (plants) in a prepared bed of soil

    Type of: plant

  3. put to bed
    • The children were bedded at ten o'clock

    Type of: put

  4. have sexual intercourse with
    • This student sleeps with everyone in her dorm
    • Adam knew Eve
    • Were you ever intimate with this man?

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

    Type of: copulate

    Kinds: take, fornicate

  5. prepare for sleep
    • I usually turn in at midnight
    • He goes to bed at the crack of dawn

    Synonyms: go to bed, turn in, crawl in, kip down, hit the hay, hit the sack, sack out, go to sleep, retire

    Kinds: bed down

How to pronounce bed

bed is pronounced /bɛd/ in British English and /bɛd/ in American English. It has 1 syllable.

Words that rhyme with bed

Word lists: words starting with BE · words ending in ED · 3-letter words

More about bed on Wikipedia.