pad

B2 Topic:Materials & Substances

US /pæd/ See IPA manual

Minimal pairs

Sounds like pod /æ/ vs /ɑ/

Freq #6137

Meanings

1

noun
A thick, soft piece of material used for protection, comfort, or to absorb liquid.

He pressed a clean pad against the wound to stop the bleeding.
2

verb
To add soft material to something to make it more comfortable or protective.

They padded the seat of the chair so it was nicer to sit on.
3

verb
To make something longer or bigger by adding unnecessary extra material.

The writer padded her short story with dull descriptions.
4

verb
To walk with quiet, soft steps.

The cat padded silently across the kitchen floor.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

2 verb · to add soft material to... bolsterfill out

Word family

Forms paddedpaddingpadsunpadded

Derived forms back-padbat-padchestpadd-paddatapadearpadfoot-padfootpadfuckpadgamepadgunpadhardpad

Etymology

From Middle English pade, padde, from Old English padde, from Proto-West Germanic *paddā, from Proto-Germanic *paddǭ (“toad”). Cognate with Dutch pad, German Low German Pad (“toad”), dialectal German Padde, Danish padde, Swedish padda, Icelandic padda (“toad”), and possibly to English paddle. Doublet of pode

pade Middle English padde Old English *paddā Proto-West Germanic *paddǭ Proto-Germanic

View etymology graph ->

External links

# pad

**Type:** Word
**Level:** B2
**Part of speech:** noun, verb
**IPA (US):** /pæd/
**Frequency rank:** 6137

## Meanings
1. A thick, soft piece of material used for protection, comfort, or to absorb liquid.
2. To add soft material to something to make it more comfortable or protective.
3. To make something longer or bigger by adding unnecessary extra material.
4. To walk with quiet, soft steps.

## Examples
- He pressed a clean pad against the wound to stop the bleeding.
- They padded the seat of the chair so it was nicer to sit on.
- The writer padded her short story with dull descriptions.
- The cat padded silently across the kitchen floor.

## Derived Forms
- back-pad
- bat-pad
- chestpad
- d-pad
- datapad
- earpad
- foot-pad
- footpad
- fuckpad
- gamepad
- gunpad
- hardpad

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: pade
- Root: padde
- Root: *paddā
- Root: *paddǭ

## Etymology
From Middle English pade, padde, from Old English padde, from Proto-West Germanic *paddā, from Proto-Germanic *paddǭ (“toad”). Cognate with Dutch pad, German Low German Pad (“toad”), dialectal German Padde, Danish padde, Swedish padda, Icelandic padda (“toad”), and possibly to English paddle. Doublet of pode

## AI Etymology
Pad comes from Middle English pade, padde, from Old English padde, from Proto-West Germanic *paddā, from Proto-Germanic *paddǭ (“toad”). Cognate with Dutch pad, German Low German Pad (“toad”), dialectal German Padde, Danish padde, Swedish padda, Icelandic padda (“toad”), and possibly to English paddle. Doublet of pode. Modern senses include a thick, soft piece of material used for protection, comfort, or to absorb liquid and to add soft material to something to make it more comfortable or protective. The wider word family includes derivatives such as back-pad, bat-pad, chestpad, d-pad, datapad, and earpad.

## Topics
- Materials & Substances

markdown

pad

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