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Pad vs Mat - What's the difference?

pad | mat |

In transitive terms the difference between pad and mat

is that pad is to travel along (a road, path etc.) while mat is to cover, protect or decorate with mats.

In intransitive terms the difference between pad and mat

is that pad is to walk softly, quietly or steadily, especially without shoes while mat is to form a thick, tangled mess; to interweave into, or like, a mat; to entangle.

As an interjection pad

is Indicating a soft flat sound, as of bare footsteps.

As a proper noun Mat is

a diminutive of the male given name Matthew.

pad

English

Etymology 1

1554, "bundle of straw to lie on", .

Noun

(en noun)
  • 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.
  • A sanitary napkin.
  • (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.
  • A keypad.
  • 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 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.
  • (US, slang) A bed.
  • (colloquial) A place of residence.
  • (cryptography) A random key (originally written on a disposable pad) of the same length as the plaintext.
  • A mousepad.
  • (nautical) A piece of timber fixed on a beam to fit the curve of the deck.
  • Derived terms
    {{der3, gamepad , incontinence pad , joypad , keypad , launchpad , mousepad , notepad , one-time pad , sleeping pad , touchpad , trackpad}}

    Verb

    (padd)
  • To stuff.
  • To furnish with a pad or padding.
  • To fill or lengthen (a story, one's importance, etc.).
  • The author began to pad her succinct stories with trite descriptions to keep up with current market trends.
    "Obama pads delegate lead ... with win in key western state."'' Austin American-Statesman ''newspaper, May 21, 2008.
  • To imbue uniformly with a mordant.
  • to pad cloth
  • (cricket) to deliberately play the ball with the leg pad instead of the bat.
  • Derived terms
    * well-padded

    Etymology 2

    From (etyl) pade, padde, from (etyl) (m), from (etyl) , and possibly related to the (term)-like English paddle.

    Alternative forms

    *

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (British, dialectal) A toad.
  • Derived terms
    * *

    Etymology 3

    From (etyl) .

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (British, dialectal, Australia, Ireland) A footpath, particularly one unformed or unmaintained; a road or track. See footpad.
  • An easy-paced horse; a padnag.
  • * Tennyson
  • an abbot on an ambling pad
  • (British, obsolete) A robber that infests the road on foot; a highwayman or footpad.
  • (Gay)
    (Byron)
  • The act of highway robbery.
  • Etymology 4

    an alteration of (ped).

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (British, dialectal) A type of wickerwork basket, especially as used as a measure of fish or other goods.
  • (Simmonds)

    Etymology 5

    partly from (etyl), partly imitative.

    Verb

    (padd)
  • To travel along (a road, path etc.).
  • * Somerville
  • Padding the streets for half a crown.
  • To travel on foot.
  • To wear a path by walking.
  • 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...
  • (obsolete) To practise highway robbery.
  • * (Cotton Mather)
  • 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.

    Etymology 6

    Interjection

    (en interjection)
  • I heard her soft footsteps, pad''', '''pad along the corridor.

    Noun

    (-)
  • The sound of soft footsteps, or a similar noise made by an animal etc.
  • Anagrams

    * * * * English three-letter words ----

    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) ----