Meanings
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1
noun
the rigid frame that supports a bed, excluding its mattress and bedding
The antique brass bedstead creaked whenever anyone turned over.
Thesaurus
Etymology
From Middle English bedsted and Old English bedstede, a compound of bed + stead, 'place or position.' It originally meant the place occupied by a bed and then the supporting framework itself. Dutch bedstee, traditionally a built-in cupboard bed, is a cognate.