Cushion

noun
1.
a soft bag of cloth, leather, or rubber, filled with feathers, air, foam rubber, etc., on which to sit, kneel, or lie.
2.
anything similar in form, used to dampen shocks or to prevent excessive pressure or chafing.
3.
something to absorb or counteract a shock, jar, or jolt, as a body of air or steam.
4.
something that lessens the effects of hardship, distress, or the like:
His inheritance was a cushion against unemployment.
5.
Anatomy, Zoology. any part or structure resembling a cushion.
6.
the resilient raised rim encircling the top of a billiard table.
7.
a pad worn under the hair by women.
8.
a portion of a radio or television script that can be adjusted in length or cut out altogether in order to end the program on time.
9.
Ice Hockey, Canadian. the iced surface of a rink.
10.
a pillow used in lacemaking.
11.
a leather pad on which gold leaf is placed preparatory to gilding.
verb (used with object)
12.
to place on or support by a cushion.
13.
to furnish with a cushion or cushions.
14.
to cover or conceal with, or as if with, a cushion.
15.
to lessen or soften the effects of:
to cushion the blow to his pride.
16.
to suppress (complaints, lamentations, etc.) by quietly ignoring.
17.
to check the motion of (a piston or the like) by a cushion, as of steam.
18.
to form (steam or the like) into a cushion.
noun
1.
a bag made of cloth, leather, plastic, etc, filled with feathers, air, or other yielding substance, used for sitting on, leaning against, etc
2.
something resembling a cushion in function or appearance, esp one to support or pad or to absorb shock
3.
the resilient felt-covered rim of a billiard table
4.
another name for pillow (sense 2)
5.
short for air cushion
6.
a capital, used in Byzantine, Romanesque, and Norman architecture, in the form of a bowl with a square top
verb (transitive)
7.
to place on or as on a cushion
8.
to provide with cushions
9.
to lessen or suppress the effects of
10.
to protect, esp against hardship or change
11.

to check the motion of (a mechanism) gently, esp by the compression of trapped fluid in a cylinder
to provide with a means of absorbing shock

cushion cush·ion (kush’ən)
n.
A padlike body part.
cushion

noun

One of the bases in baseball; bag (1940s+)
Anything, esp money, kept as a safeguard against hard times: He kept one bank account just as a cushion (1950s+)

Related Terms

the keystone, whoopee cushion