pad
English
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /pæd/
Audio (AU) (file) - Hyphenation: pad
- Rhymes: -æd
Etymology 1




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1554, "bundle of straw to lie on", probably from Low German or West Flemish pad (“sole of the foot”), perhaps ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *pent- (“to pass”), which would make it related to both path and find.[1]
Noun
pad (plural pads)
- A flattened mass of anything soft, to sit or lie on.
- A cushion used as a saddle without a tree or frame.
- A soft, or small, cushion.
- A cushion-like thickening of the skin on the under side of the toes of animals.
- The mostly hairless flesh located on the bottom of an animal's foot or paw.
- Any cushion-like part of the human body, especially the ends of the fingers.
- A stuffed guard or protection, especially one worn on the legs of horses to prevent bruising.
- A soft bag or cushion to relieve pressure, support a part, etc.
- Ellipsis of menstrual. or sanitary pad: a mass of absorbent material used to absorb menstrual flow.
- (US) A floating leaf of a water lily or similar plant.
- (cricket) A soft cover for a batsman's leg that protects it from damage when hit by the ball.
- A kind of cushion for writing upon, or for blotting, especially one formed of many flat sheets of writing paper; now especially such a block of paper sheets as used to write on.
- A panel or strip of material designed to be sensitive to pressure or touch.
- Ellipsis of keypad.: a small keyboard, a keyed device for entering tactile inputs into a machine.
- A flat surface or area from which a helicopter or other aircraft may land or be launched.
- An electrical extension cord with a multi-port socket on one end: "trip cord"
- The effect produced by sustained lower reed notes in a musical piece, most common in blues music.
- A synthesizer instrument sound used for sustained background sounds.
- Synonym: synth pad
- (US, slang) A bed.
- (colloquial) A small house, apartment, or mobile home occupied by a single person; such as a bachelor, playboy, etc.
- (UK, slang) A prison cell.
- (cryptography) A random key (originally written on a disposable pad) of the same length as the plaintext.
- Ellipsis of mousepad.: a firm but soft mass used for computer mice.
- (electronics) The amount by which a signal has been reduced.
- 1967, Db: The Sound Engineering Magazine - Volumes 1-2:
- It is a general practice to pad down a condenser mike with as much as a 20-30 dB pad.
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- (nautical) A piece of timber fixed on a beam to fit the curve of the deck.
- 1875, William Clark Russell, Jilted – Or My Uncle's Scheme
- let us at least trust that the hair-pins will do their duty, and maintain the respectability of passion by holding the pads and puffs and frizettes in their proper places.
- 1875, William Clark Russell, Jilted – Or My Uncle's Scheme
Hyponyms
Related terms
Translations
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Verb
pad (third-person singular simple present pads, present participle padding, simple past and past participle padded)
- (transitive) To stuff.
- (transitive) To furnish with a pad or padding.
- (transitive) To increase the size of, especially by adding undesirable filler.
- The author began to pad her succinct stories with trite descriptions to keep up with current market trends.
- 2008 May 21, Austin American-Statesman:
- "Obama pads delegate lead […] with win in key western state."
- pad one's expenses
- (transitive) To imbue uniformly with a mordant.
- to pad cloth
- (transitive, cricket) To deliberately play the ball with the leg pad instead of the bat.
Derived terms
Translations
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Etymology 2
From Middle English pade, padde, from Old English padde, 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.
Alternative forms
Etymology 3
From Dutch pad or Middle Low German pat (“path”). Doublet of path.
Noun
pad (plural pads)
- (Britain, dialectal, Australia, Ireland) A footpath, particularly one unformed or unmaintained; a road or track.
- An easy-paced horse; a padnag.
- 1832 December (indicated as 1833), Alfred Tennyson, “The Lady of Shalott”, in Poems, London: Edward Moxon, […], OCLC 3944791, part the second, page 11:
- Sometimes a troop of damsels glad, / An abbot on an ambling pad, / Sometimes a curly shepherd lad, / Or long-hair'd page, in crimson clad, / Goes by to Camelot.
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- (Britain, obsolete) A robber who infests the road on foot; a highwayman or footpad.
- 1720, John Gay, "Fables", in Poems on Several Occasions
- A Pad came pacing down the way : / The Cur, with never-ceasing tongue , / Upon the passing trav'ler sprung
- 1819–1824, [Lord Byron], Don Juan, London, (please specify |canto=I to XVII):
- These free-born sounds proceeded from four pads / In ambush laid, who had perceived him loiter / Behind his carriage; and, like handy lads, / Had seized the lucky hour to reconnoitre
- 1720, John Gay, "Fables", in Poems on Several Occasions
- (Britain, obsolete) A tramp or itinerant musician.
Derived terms
Etymology 4
Perhaps an alteration of ped.
Noun
pad (plural pads)
Etymology 5
Probably partly from Middle Low German [Term?], partly imitative. Some senses possibly influenced by pad (“soft part of an animal's foot”, noun).
Verb
pad (third-person singular simple present pads, present participle padding, simple past and past participle padded)
- (transitive) To travel along (a road, path etc.).
- 1727, William Somervile, The Fortune Hunter
- Padding the streets for half a crown.
- 1727, William Somervile, The Fortune Hunter
- (intransitive) To travel on foot.
- (intransitive) To wear a path by walking.
- 1855, Robert Browning, “Childe Roland to the Dark Tower Came”, XXII
- Who were the strugglers, what war did they wage, / Whose savage trample thus could pad the dank / Soil to a plash? [...]
- 1855, Robert Browning, “Childe Roland to the Dark Tower Came”, XXII
- (intransitive) To walk softly, quietly or steadily, especially without shoes.
- 1922, Margery Williams, The Velveteen Rabbit:
- Their feet padded softly on the ground, and they crept quite close to him, twitching their noses, while the Rabbit stared hard to see which side the clockwork stuck out...
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- (intransitive, obsolete) To practise highway robbery.
- 1689, Cotton Mather, Memorable Providences, Relating to Witchcrafts and Possessions
- Their chief Argument is, That they never saw any Witches, therefore there are none. Just as if you or I should say, We never met with any Robbers on the Road, therefore there never was any Padding there.
- 1689, Cotton Mather, Memorable Providences, Relating to Witchcrafts and Possessions
Translations
Etymology 6
Probably imitative, perhaps related to or influenced by Etymology 5, above.
Interjection
pad
- Indicating a soft flat sound, as of bare footsteps.
- I heard her soft footsteps, pad, pad along the corridor.
Derived terms
References
- Douglas Harper (2001–2023), “pad”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.
- 1858, Peter Lund Simmonds, The Dictionary of Trade Products
Afrikaans
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): [pɑt]
Audio (file)
Dutch
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /pɑt/
audio (file) - Hyphenation: pad
- Rhymes: -ɑt
Etymology 1
From Middle Dutch pat, from Old Dutch path, from Proto-West Germanic *paþ, from Proto-Germanic *paþaz (“path”). Cognate with English path, West Frisian paad and German Pfad.
Derived terms
Descendants
Etymology 2
From Middle Dutch padde, pedde, from Old Dutch *padda, from Proto-West Germanic *paddā, from Proto-Germanic *paddǭ (“toad”).
Noun
Derived terms
- bruine pad
- donderpad
- gewone pad
- groene pad
- knoflookpad
- paddenstoel
- paddentrek
- reuzenpad
- rugstreeppad
- schildpad
- Surinaamse pad
- vuurbuikpad
- vuurpad
Descendants
- Afrikaans: padda
Hungarian
Etymology
From a Slavic language, compare Serbo-Croatian pod.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): [ˈpɒd]
- Rhymes: -ɒd
Noun
pad (plural padok)
Declension
Inflection (stem in -o-, back harmony) | ||
---|---|---|
singular | plural | |
nominative | pad | padok |
accusative | padot | padokat |
dative | padnak | padoknak |
instrumental | paddal | padokkal |
causal-final | padért | padokért |
translative | paddá | padokká |
terminative | padig | padokig |
essive-formal | padként | padokként |
essive-modal | — | — |
inessive | padban | padokban |
superessive | padon | padokon |
adessive | padnál | padoknál |
illative | padba | padokba |
sublative | padra | padokra |
allative | padhoz | padokhoz |
elative | padból | padokból |
delative | padról | padokról |
ablative | padtól | padoktól |
non-attributive possessive - singular |
padé | padoké |
non-attributive possessive - plural |
padéi | padokéi |
Possessive forms of pad | ||
---|---|---|
possessor | single possession | multiple possessions |
1st person sing. | padom | padjaim |
2nd person sing. | padod | padjaid |
3rd person sing. | padja | padjai |
1st person plural | padunk | padjaink |
2nd person plural | padotok | padjaitok |
3rd person plural | padjuk | padjaik |
Further reading
- pad in Bárczi, Géza and László Országh. A magyar nyelv értelmező szótára (‘The Explanatory Dictionary of the Hungarian Language’). Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1959–1962. Fifth ed., 1992: →ISBN
Old English
Alternative forms
Etymology
From Proto-West Germanic *paidu, from Proto-Germanic *paidō.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /pɑːd/
Declension
Polish
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /pat/
Audio (file) - Rhymes: -at
- Syllabification: pad
- Homophone: pat
Etymology 1
Deverbal from padać.
Etymology 2
Clipping of gamepad.
Declension
Serbo-Croatian
Etymology
Inherited from Proto-Slavic *padъ.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /pâːd/