What does "cushion" mean?
A soft mass of material stuffed into a cloth bag, used for comfort or support.
Cushion
/ˈkʊʃən/ noun, verb
noun, verb ·Very common ·Middle school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: A soft mass of material stuffed into a cloth bag, used for comfort or support.
- Grammar: cushion is listed as noun, verb.
- Nearest alternatives: abate, absorb, absorb the shock, accent pillow.
- Useful contrasts: galling, aggravate, bludgeons.
- Usage evidence: The old woman was snugly sitting on a cushion.
How to use "cushion"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "cushion" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "cushion" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "cushion" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "cushion" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "cushion" is acting as noun, verb in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "abate" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "cushion", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A soft mass of material stuffed into a cloth bag, used for comfort or support. countable, uncountable
"“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.[…]”"
- 2 a soft bag filled with air or a mass of padding such as feathers or foam rubber etc. wordnet
- 3 A soft mass of material stuffed into a cloth bag, used for comfort or support.; A throw pillow. Commonwealth, countable, uncountable
- 4 the layer of air that supports a hovercraft or similar vehicle wordnet
- 5 A soft mass of material stuffed into a cloth bag, used for comfort or support.; A thin, flat pad used on hard chairs and sometimes toilet seats. countable, uncountable
Show 11 more definitions
- 6 a mechanical damper; absorbs energy of sudden impulses wordnet
- 7 Something acting as a cushion, especially to absorb a shock or impact.; A pad on which gilders cut gold leaf. countable, uncountable
- 8 Something acting as a cushion, especially to absorb a shock or impact.; A mass of steam in the end of the cylinder of a steam engine to receive the impact of the piston. countable, uncountable
- 9 Something acting as a cushion, especially to absorb a shock or impact.; The lip around a table in cue sports which absorbs some of the impact of the billiard balls and bounces them back. countable, uncountable
- 10 Something acting as a cushion, especially to absorb a shock or impact.; The pillow used in making bone lace. countable, uncountable
- 11 Something acting as a cushion, especially to absorb a shock or impact.; An engraver's pad. countable, uncountable
- 12 Something acting as a cushion, especially to absorb a shock or impact.; The rubber of an electrical machine. countable, historical, uncountable
- 13 Something acting as a cushion, especially to absorb a shock or impact.; A pad supporting a woman's hair. countable, historical, uncountable
- 14 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. countable, figuratively, uncountable
"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."
- 15 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.; Money kept in reserve. countable, figuratively, uncountable
"The entry-level wages are abominable, still something like $15,000 a year. You can't possibly be a working class person and live on that in New York City. You need some kind of family "cushion." So what you'll find in publishing is middle class professionals, people who see material about working class people as "foreign.""
- 16 The dancer in the cushion dance who currently holds the cushion, or the dance itself. countable, historical, uncountable
"But of these kind of second Courses I am the onely Cook; though yet those ordinary practises of our Feasts, as choosing a King, throwing Dice, drinking Healths, trouling it Round, dancing the Cushion and the like, were not invented by the seven Wise Men but my Self, and that too for the common pleasure of Mankind."
Verb
- 1 To furnish with cushions.
"to cushion a sofa"
- 2 protect from impact wordnet
- 3 To seat or place on, or as on a cushion.
"How many doughty monarchs, in later and more polite ages, would have slept in cottages, and have worked in falls, instead of inhabiting palaces, and being cushioned up in thrones, if this rule of government had continued in force ?"
- 4 To absorb or deaden the impact of. figuratively
"to cushion a blow"
- 5 To conceal or cover up, as under a cushion. figuratively
Synonyms
All synonymsExample
"The old woman was snugly sitting on a cushion."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "cushion"?
Common synonyms include: abate, absorb, absorb the shock, accent pillow, acoustic tile, aegis.
How do you use "cushion" in a sentence?
The old woman was snugly sitting on a cushion.
How do you pronounce "cushion"?
Pronounced /ˈkʊʃən/.
Etymology
From Middle English quysshyn, from later Old French coissin (modern coussin), from Vulgar Latin *coxīnus (“seat pad”), derived from Latin coxa (“hip, thigh”) (with the suffix possibly after Latin pulvīnus (“pillow”)), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *koḱs- (“joint, limb”).