Definition of mattress
1a : a fabric case filled with resilient material (such as cotton, hair, feathers, foam rubber, or an arrangement of coiled springs) used either alone as a bed or on a bedsteadb : an inflatable airtight sack for use as a mattress
2 : a device (as of interwoven brush and poles) used to protect a shoreline, bank, or streambed from erosion
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Recent Examples of mattress from the Web
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The body of a 50-year-old woman was discovered beneath a mattress in her home south of Everett early Tuesday.
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On Wednesday, Byers turned himself in, telling his mother the firearm was under a mattress in their home, the report says.
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In an otherwise horizontal bedroom landscape (a queen-size mattress on the floor), the hamper looms high and white above the rest of the room.
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Years later, a different detective with the same agency called Downs to inquire whether the boy could have died from being placed under a mattress, with his father on top of it — an explanation that Downs answered made perfect sense.
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Especially needed are donations of wheelchairs, bedside commodes, rolling walkers, electric hospital beds, shower benches and chairs, adult diapers, lift chairs, Ensure and hospital bed mattresses .
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A driver smashed his car into a mattress store in Northwest Miami-Dade late on Monday night.
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She is placed in an aggressive martial arts hold and violently taken to a cold cell—to lie on a bad with no mattress.
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The move follows the announcement of a partnership that lets Target customers buy beds and accessories from Casper, which typically ships mattresses to online shoppers directly.
These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'mattress'. Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Origin and Etymology of mattress
Middle English materas, from Anglo-French, from Medieval Latin materacium, from Arabic maṭraḥ place where something is thrown
MATTRESS Defined for English Language Learners
mattress
playDefinition of mattress for English Language Learners
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: a cloth case that is filled with material and used as a bed
MATTRESS Defined for Kids
mattress
playDefinition of mattress for Students
: a springy pad for use on a bed
Learn More about mattress
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Spanish Central: Translation of mattress Nglish: Translation of mattress for Spanish speakers Britannica English: Translation of mattress for Arabic speakers
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