bed

Etymology

From Middle English bed, bedde, from Old English bedd, from Proto-West Germanic *badi, from Proto-Germanic *badją. cognates Cognate with North Frisian baad, beed, Saterland Frisian Bääd, West Frisian bêd, Low German Bedd, Dutch bed, German Bett, Swedish bädd, Icelandic beður, all meaning “bed”. further possible etymology and cognates The Proto-Germanic term may in turn be from Proto-Indo-European *bʰedʰ- (“to dig”) with various theories explaining the development in meaning. If it is, the term is also cognate with Ancient Greek βοθυρος (bothuros, “pit”), Latin fossa (“ditch”), Latvian bedre (“hole”), Welsh bedd (“grave”), Breton bez (“grave”); and probably also Russian бодать (bodatʹ, “to butt, gore”).

noun

1. A piece of furniture, usually flat and soft, on which to rest or sleep.
   1. A prepared spot in which to spend the night.
      When camping, he usually makes a bed for the night from hay and a blanket.
   2. (usually after a preposition) One's place of sleep or rest.
      Go to bed!
      I had breakfast in bed this morning.
   3. (uncountable, usually after a preposition) Sleep; rest; getting to sleep.
      He's been afraid of bed since he saw the scary film.
   4. (uncountable, usually after a preposition) The time for going to sleep or resting in bed; bedtime.
      I read until bed.
   5. (uncountable) Time spent in a bed.
      I am quite sure that too much bed, if not too much sleep, is prejudicial, though a certain amount is absolutely necessary. 1903, Thomas Stretch Dowse, Lectures on Massage and Electricity in the Treatment of Disease, page 276
      Some prisoners, indeed, are always up before the bell rings — such was my practice — they prefer to grope about in the dark to tossing about in the utter weariness of too much bed. 1907, Jabez Spencer Balfour, My Prison Life, page 181
      This condition is one of the dangers of "too much bed". The nurse should inspect the legs of each patient daily 1972, James Verney Cable, Principles of Medicine: An Integrated Textbook for Nurses
   6. (figurative) Marriage.
   7. (figurative, uncountable) Sexual activity.
      Too much bed, not enough rest.
   8. Clipping of bedroom.
      2 beds, 1 bath
2. A place, or flat surface or layer, on which something else rests or is laid.
   1. The bottom of a body of water, such as an ocean, sea, lake, or river.
      sea bed
      river bed
      There's a lot of trash on the bed of the river.
   2. An area where a large number of oysters, mussels, other sessile shellfish, or a large amount of seaweed is found.
      Oysters are farmed from their beds.
      I knew that there were kelp beds and reefs which could rip the bottoms from boats down in Skedans Bay. 1941, Emily Carr, chapter 18, in Klee Wyck
   3. A garden plot.
      We added a new bush to our rose bed.
   4. A foundation or supporting surface formed of a fluid.
      A bed of concrete makes a strong subsurface for an asphalt parking lot.
   5. The superficial earthwork, or ballast, of a railroad.
   6. The platform of a truck, trailer, railcar, or other vehicle that supports the load to be hauled.
      The parcels were loaded onto the truck bed before transportation.
   7. A shaped piece of timber to hold a cask clear of a ship’s floor; a pallet.
   8. (printing, dated) The flat part of the press, on which the form is laid.
   9. (computing) The flat surface of a scanner on which a document is placed to be scanned.
   10. A piece of music, normally instrumental, over which a radio DJ talks.
   11. (darts) Any of the sections of a dartboard with a point value, delimited by a wire.
   12. (trampoline) The taut surface of a trampoline.
       These 5 judges mark the athlete's staying in the center of the bed, uniformity of bounce heights, and general style. 2000, Sports: The Complete Visual Reference
3. (heading) A layer or surface.
   1. A deposit of ore, coal, etc.
   2. (geology) The smallest division of a geologic formation or stratigraphic rock series marked by well-defined divisional planes (bedding planes) separating it from layers above and below.
   3. (masonry) The horizontal surface of a building stone.
      the upper and lower beds
   4. (masonry) The lower surface of a brick, slate, or tile.
   5. (masonry) A course of stone or brick in a wall.

verb

1. Senses relating to a bed as a place for resting or sleeping.
   1. (intransitive) To go to bed; to put oneself to sleep.
      I usually listen to music before I bed.
   2. (transitive) To place in a bed.
   3. (transitive) To furnish with a bed or bedding.
   4. (transitive, intransitive) To have sexual intercourse (with).
      And he who lies with another Man's Wife after she is married, even before her Husband had bedded with her, is guilty of Adultery, […] 1730, William Forbes, The Institutes of the Law of Scotland, page 121
   5. (intransitive, hunting) Of large game animals: to be at rest.
2. Senses relating to a bed as a place or layer on which something else rests or is laid.
   1. (transitive) To lay or put in any hollow place, or place of rest and security, surrounded or enclosed; to embed.
      1810/1835, William Wordsworth, Guide to the Lakes Among all chains or clusters of mountains where large bodies of still water are bedded.
      But I must warn you that chipboard floors are always likely to squeak. The material is still being used in new-builds, but developers now use adhesive to bed and joint it, rather than screws or nails. I suspect the adhesive will eventually embrittle and crack, resulting in the same squeaking problems as before. 17 August 2014, Jeff Howell, “Home improvements: Repairing and replacing floorboards [print version: Never buy anything from a salesman, 16 August 2014, p. P7]”, in The Daily Telegraph (Property)
   2. (transitive) To set in a soft matrix, as paving stones in sand, or tiles in cement.
   3. (transitive) To set out (plants) in a garden bed.
   4. (transitive) To dress or prepare the surface of (stone) so it can serve as a bed.
   5. (transitive) To lay flat; to lay in order; to place in a horizontal or recumbent position.
   6. To settle, as machinery.