pad

Definition

A flattened mass of anything soft, to sit or lie on.

Etymology

1554, "bundle of straw to lie on". Unknown, and unclear all senses have common etymology. For sense "ends of a digit", cf. 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.

Example Sentences

• "Collie ignored him. Reached the finger further. Closer. And closer yet, until — […] Collie yanked his hand back and peered at it like a kid with an interesting new scrape. Then he turned to Steve and held it out. A bead of blood, small and dark and perfect, was forming on the pad of his index finger."
• "In this study, when the views of the mothers on the tiring/straining situations during their daughters’ adolescence are examined, it is determined that the mothers mostly have difficulties in using the pads of their daughters, cleaning the hairs in the armpit and genital area, and bathing their daughters."
• "It is a general practice to pad down a condenser mike with as much as a 20-30 dB pad."