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Definition of cushion noun from the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary

cushion

noun
 
/ˈkʊʃn/
 
/ˈkʊʃn/
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  1. (North American English also pillow)
    a cloth bag filled with soft material or feathers that is used, for example, to make a seat more comfortable
    • matching curtains and cushions
    • a floor cushion (= a large cushion that you put on the floor to sit on)
    • (figurative) a cushion of moss on a rock
    • I rested my elbow on a cushion.
    • She plumped up the sofa cushions before the guests arrived.
    see also scatter cushion, whoopee cushionTopics Houses and homesc1
    Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective
    • plump
    • soft
    • couch
    verb + cushion
    • plump
    • plump up
    cushion + noun
    • cover
    preposition
    • on a/​the cushion
    See full entry
  2. a layer of something between two surfaces that keeps them apart
    • A hovercraft rides on a cushion of air.
    • Underlay forms a cushion between the carpet and the floor, to minimize wear.
  3. [usually singular] cushion (against something) something that protects you against something unpleasant that might happen
    • His savings were a comfortable cushion against financial problems.
    • The team built up a safe cushion of two goals in the first half.
  4. (in the game of billiards, etc.) the soft inside edge along each side of the table that the balls bounce offTopics Sports: other sportsc2
  5. Word OriginMiddle English: from Old French cuissin, based on a Latin word meaning ‘cushion for the hip’, from coxa ‘hip, thigh’. The Romans also had a word cubital ‘elbow cushion’, from cubitus ‘elbow’.
See cushion in the Oxford Advanced American Dictionary
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