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What is the difference between cushion and mat?

cushion | mat |

As nouns the difference between cushion and mat

is that cushion is a soft mass of material stuffed into a cloth bag, used for comfort or support; for sitting on, kneeling on, resting one's head on etc while mat is a flat piece of coarse material used for wiping one’s feet, or as a decorative or protective floor covering.

As verbs the difference between cushion and mat

is that cushion is to furnish with cushions while mat is to cover, protect or decorate with mats.

As a proper noun Mat is

a diminutive of the male given name Matthew.

cushion

English

(wikipedia cushion)

Noun

(en noun)
  • A soft mass of material stuffed into a cloth bag, used for comfort or support; for sitting on, kneeling on, resting one's head on etc.
  • * {{quote-book, year=1905, author=
    • , title= , chapter=1 citation , passage=“There the cause of death was soon ascertained?; the victim of this daring outrage had been stabbed to death from ear to ear with a long, sharp instrument, in shape like an antique stiletto, which […] was subsequently found under the cushions of the hansom. […]”}}
  • * , chapter=12
    • , title= The Mirror and the Lamp , passage=There were many wooden chairs for the bulk of his visitors, and two wicker armchairs with red cloth cushions for superior people. From the packing-cases had emerged some Indian clubs, […], and all these articles […] made a scattered and untidy decoration that Mrs. Clough assiduously dusted and greatly cherished.}}
  • Something acting as a cushion, especially to absorb a shock or impact.
  • # A pad on which gilders cut gold leaf.
  • # A mass of steam in the end of the cylinder of a steam engine to receive the impact of the piston.
  • # (sports, billiards, snooker, pool) The lip around a table in cue sports which absorbs some of the impact of the billiard balls and bounces them back.
  • (figuratively) a sufficient quantity of an intangible object (like points or minutes) to allow for some of those points, for example, to be lost without hurting one's chances for successfully completing an objective.
  • * {{quote-news, year=2011, date=November 3, author=Arindam Rej, work=BBC Sport
    • , title= Fulham 4-1 Wisla Krakow , passage=Wisla made a bright start to the second half and Fulham keeper Mark Schwarzer was twice called into action, first saving Gervasio Nunez's deflected 20-yard effort and then smothering Gargula's free-kick.
    But Fulham soon had the cushion of a third goal after more outstanding build-up play.}}
  • (obsolete) A riotous dance, formerly common at weddings.
    • (Halliwell)

    See also

    * pillow * squab

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To furnish with cushions.
    • to cushion a sofa
  • To seat or place on, or as on a cushion.
  • * Bolingbroke
    • Many who are cushioned on thrones would have remained in obscurity.
  • To absorb or deaden the impact of.
    • to cushion a blow
  • To conceal or cover up, as under a cushion.

    • mat

    English

    (wikipedia mat)

    Etymology 1

    From (etyl) (m), from ).

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A flat piece of coarse material used for wiping one’s feet, or as a decorative or protective floor covering.
    • Wipe your feet on the mat before coming in.
  • A small flat piece of material used to protect a surface from anything hot or rough; a coaster.
    • They put mats on the table during mealtimes.
  • (athletics) A floor pad to protect athletes.
    • The high jumper cleared the bar and landed safely on the mat .
  • A thickly tangled mess.
    • a mat''' of hair; a '''mat of weeds
  • A thick paper or paperboard border used to inset and center the contents of a frame.
    • the mat of a daguerreotype
  • A thin layer of woven, non-woven, or knitted fiber that serves as reinforcement to a material.
  • (gaming) A material or component needed for a crafting recipe
    • To make a luck potion, you need several rare herbs as mats .
    Derived terms
    * crash mat * doormat * mat slab * place mat * welcome mat

    Verb

    (matt)
  • To cover, protect or decorate with mats.
    • (Evelyn)
  • To form a thick, tangled mess; to interweave into, or like, a mat; to entangle.
  • * Dryden
    • And o'er his eyebrows hung his matted hair.

    Etymology 2

    Compare (m).

    Alternative forms

    * (l)

    Noun

  • (coppersmithing) An alloy of copper, tin, iron, etc.; white metal.

    • Anagrams

    * (l), (l), (l), (l), (l), (l) ----