What's the difference between
and
Enter two words to compare and contrast their definitions, origins, and synonyms to better understand how those words are related.

Bed vs Ben - What's the difference?

bed | ben |

As an adverb ben is

well.

bed

English

Noun

(en noun)
  • A piece of furniture, usually flat and soft, for resting or sleeping on.
  • *
  • # A prepared spot to spend the night in.
  • # (lb) One's place of sleep or rest.
  • # Sleep; rest; getting to sleep.
  • # The time for going to sleep or resting in bed; bedtime.
  • # (lb) Time spent in a bed.
  • #*
  • #*
  • #*
  • # (lb) Marriage.
  • #* (1609-1674)
  • George, the eldest son of his second bed .
  • # Sexual activity.
  • A place, or flat surface or layer, on which something else rests or is laid.
  • # The bottom of a lake or other body of water.
  • # An area where a large number of oysters, mussels, or other sessile shellfish is found.
  • # A garden plot.
  • #*
  • Breezes blowing from beds of iris quickened her breath with their perfume; she saw the tufted lilacs sway in the wind, and the streamers of mauve-tinted wistaria swinging, all a-glisten with golden bees; she saw a crimson cardinal winging through the foliage, and amorous tanagers flashing like scarlet flames athwart the pines.
  • # A foundation or supporting surface formed of a fluid.
  • # The superficial earthwork, or ballast, of a railroad.
  • # The platform of a truck, trailer, railcar, or other vehicle that supports the load to be hauled.
  • # A shaped piece of timber to hold a cask clear of a ship’s floor; a pallet.
  • # The flat part of the press, on which the form is laid.
  • # A piece of music, normally instrumental, over which a radio DJ talks.
  • # (lb) Any of the sections of a dartboard with a point value, delimited by a wire.
  • (lb) A layer or surface.
  • # A deposit of ore, coal, etc.
  • # (lb) 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.
  • # (lb) The horizontal surface of a building stone.
  • # (lb) The lower surface of a brick, slate, or tile.
  • (Knight)
  • # (lb) A course of stone or brick in a wall.
  • Usage notes

    Sense 1. To prepare a bed is usually to "make" the bed , or (qualifier) to "spread" the bed, the verb spread probably having been developed from bedspread. Like many nouns denoting places where people spend time, (term) requires no article after certain prepositions: hence , and so on. The forms (term), etc. do exist, but tend to imply mere presence in the bed, without it being for the purpose of sleep. See also

    Derived terms

    * air bed/airbed * alveolar bed * apple-pie bed * bed and breakfast * bed blocker * bedbound * bedbug * bedchamber * bed check * bedclothes * bed cover * bedder * bedding * bedfast * bedfellow * bed ground * bed hair * bed head * bed-hop * bed jacket * bed linen * bed load * bedload * bedmate * bed-mould * bed of justice * bed of pelts * bed of roses * bedpan * bedpost * bed push * bedridden * bedroom * bed sheet, bedsheet * bedside * bedspread * bedspring * bedstead * bed-sitter, bedsitter * bed tea * bed trick * breakfast in bed * bunk bed * camp bed * canopy bed * capillary bed * coal bed * creek bed * day bed * death bed/deathbed * divan bed * double bed * feather bed/featherbed * filter bed * flatbed * flower bed, flowerbed * four-poster bed * French bed * gatch bed * get up on the wrong side of the bed * go to bed * go to bed with * Hollywood bed * hospital bed * hot bed/hotbed * in bed * interbedded * key bed * make one's bed and lie in it * make the bed * marker bed * Murphy bed * nail bed/nailbed * orthopedic bed * out of bed * oyster bed * pencil-post bed * pig bed * pissy bed * plank bed * platform bed (see platform) * procrustean bed * put to bed * red under the bed * river bed * roller bed * sea bed * shit the bed * single bed * sleigh bed * sofa bed/sofa-bed * sunbed * take to one's bed * tanning bed * test bed * truckle bed * trundle bed * twin bed * wake up on the wrong side of the bed * water bed, waterbed * wet the bed * you make the bed you lie in

    Verb

    (bedd)
  • Senses relating to a bed as a place for resting or sleeping.
  • # To go to a bed. (rfex)
  • # To place in a bed.
  • (Francis Bacon)
  • # To put oneself to sleep. (rfex)
  • # To furnish with a bed or bedding.
  • # (slang) To have sexual intercourse with.
  • Senses relating to a bed as a place or layer on which something else rests or is laid.
  • # To lay or put in any hollow place, or place of rest and security, surrounded or enclosed; to embed.
  • #* Wordsworth:
  • Among all chains or clusters of mountains where large bodies of still water are bedded .
  • #* '>citation
  • # To set in a soft matrix, as paving stones in sand, or tiles in cement.
  • # To set out (plants) in a garden bed.
  • # To dress or prepare the surface of (stone) so it can serve as a bed.
  • # To lay flat; to lay in order; to place in a horizontal or recumbent position.
  • #* Shakespeare:
  • bedded hair
  • # To settle, as machinery.
  • Derived terms

    * bed down * embed

    Statistics

    *

    Anagrams

    * * 1000 English basic words ----

    ben

    English

    Etymology 1

    From (etyl) ben, bene, from (etyl) .

    Alternative forms

    *

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (obsolete) A prayer; a petition.
  • Etymology 2

    From (etyl) ben, bene, variation of bin, .

    Preposition

    (English prepositions)
  • (Scotland, northern England) In, into.
  • * 2008 , (James Kelman), Kieron Smith, Boy , Penguin 2009, p. 32:
  • And he was waving to me to creep in, so I just did and then just to skip ben the front and then in the lobby.

    Adjective

  • Inner, interior.
  • Derived terms
    * ben-end, ben-room

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (Scotland, Northern England) Ben-room: The inner room of a two-room hut or shack (as opposed to the but).
  • Derived terms
    * but and ben

    Etymology 3

    Probably representing a North African pronunciation of (etyl)

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A tree, Moringa oleifera or horseradish tree of Arabia and India, which produces oil of ben.
  • The winged seed of the ben tree.
  • The oil of the ben seed.
  • Synonyms
    * (tree) (l), (l), (l)
    Derived terms
    * ben-nut

    Etymology 4

    (etyl) .

    Alternative forms

    * Ben

    Noun

    (-)
  • (usually, capitalised) Son of (used with Hebrew and Arabic surnames).
  • Etymology 5

    From (etyl) beinn

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A Scottish or Irish mountain or high peak.