bed down
phrasal verb
bedded down; bedding down; beds down
1
: to lie down somewhere for sleep
There were so many people that some of us had to bed down in the living room.
2
: to provide (a person or animal) with a place to sleep
They bedded us down in the living room.
When the animals had been fed and bedded down, we went inside to eat dinner.
Examples of bed down in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
A day or so of medical attention does not address the underlying problems that compel people to bed down in subways and on the streets: a lack of both affordable housing and access to a continuum of voluntary mental health care.
—
Dave Giffen, New York Daily News, 1 Apr. 2025
For miles there wasn’t a break in the trail, and no sign that the bear had bedded down anywhere.
—Tom Stacer, Outdoor Life, 20 Feb. 2025
In Italo Calvino’s 1973 novel The Castle of Crossed Destinies, two groups of travelers bed down for the night in a forest.
—Eli Wizevich, Smithsonian Magazine, 7 Apr. 2025
On January 11, 1995, approximately 17,000 elk bedded down in Yellowstone National Park.
—Katie Jackson, Outside Online, 17 Mar. 2025
Each midge follows its own timeline, with late bloomers waiting longer than their precocious counterparts to bed down for the winter.
—Cody Cottier, Discover Magazine, 8 Mar. 2025
The new arrivals bedded down on sodden ground along the tracks, their campfires flickering in the night.
—Michael Luo, The New Yorker, 3 Mar. 2025
Lauren Zalewski, a nurse, pushed the bed down the hallway, around the corner and into the operating room.
—Jeff Seidel, USA TODAY, 23 July 2023
The flames from a fire that broke out Tuesday evening near a nature preserve in the inland foothills northeast of LA spread so rapidly that staff at a senior living center had to push dozens of residents in wheelchairs and hospital beds down the street to a parking lot.
—Jaimie Ding, TIME, 8 Jan. 2025
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Dave Giffen, New York Daily News, 1 Apr. 2025
For miles there wasn’t a break in the trail, and no sign that the bear had bedded down anywhere.
—Tom Stacer, Outdoor Life, 20 Feb. 2025
In Italo Calvino’s 1973 novel The Castle of Crossed Destinies, two groups of travelers bed down for the night in a forest.
—Eli Wizevich, Smithsonian Magazine, 7 Apr. 2025
On January 11, 1995, approximately 17,000 elk bedded down in Yellowstone National Park.
—Katie Jackson, Outside Online, 17 Mar. 2025
Each midge follows its own timeline, with late bloomers waiting longer than their precocious counterparts to bed down for the winter.
—Cody Cottier, Discover Magazine, 8 Mar. 2025
The new arrivals bedded down on sodden ground along the tracks, their campfires flickering in the night.
—Michael Luo, The New Yorker, 3 Mar. 2025
Lauren Zalewski, a nurse, pushed the bed down the hallway, around the corner and into the operating room.
—Jeff Seidel, USA TODAY, 23 July 2023
The flames from a fire that broke out Tuesday evening near a nature preserve in the inland foothills northeast of LA spread so rapidly that staff at a senior living center had to push dozens of residents in wheelchairs and hospital beds down the street to a parking lot.
—Jaimie Ding, TIME, 8 Jan. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Bed down.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bed%20down. Accessed 4 May. 2025.
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