Bed vs Nightdress - What's the difference?

As nouns the difference between bed and nightdress

is that bed is a piece of furniture, usually flat and soft, for resting or sleeping on while nightdress is a nightgown; female attire designed to be worn to bed.

As a verb bed

is senses relating to a bed as a place for resting or sleeping .

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

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* * 1000 English basic words ----

nightdress

English

Noun

(es)

A nightgown; female attire designed to be worn to bed.

She was too modest to come downstairs dressed only in her nightdress .