- a thick piece of soft material that is used, for example, for cleaning or protecting something or for holding liquid
- medicated cleansing pads for sensitive skin
- sanitary pads (= that a woman uses during her period)
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective- thick
- adhesive
- cotton
- …
Definitions on the go
Look up any word in the dictionary offline, anytime, anywhere with the Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary app.
- a number of pieces of paper for writing or drawing on, that are fastened together at one edge
- a sketch/writing pad
- He always kept a pad and pencil by the bed to note down thoughts in the night.
- She doodled on a pad as she spoke.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective- memo
- note
- scratch
- …
- on a/the pad
- the soft part under the foot of a cat, dog, etc.
- A cat detects vibrations through the pads of its feet.
- a small piece of rough material used for cleaning pans, surfaces, etc.
- a scouring pad
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective- thick
- adhesive
- cotton
- …
- a flat surface where a spacecraft or a helicopter takes off and lands
- helicopter landing pads
- Two booster rockets will power the shuttle off the pad.
- [usually plural] a piece of thick material that you wear in some sports, for example football and cricket, to protect parts of your body
- knee pads
- the large flat leaf of some water plants, especially the water lily
- floating lily pads
- [usually singular] (informal) the place where somebody lives, especially a flat
- He moved back into his old bachelor pad.
of soft material
of paper
of animal’s foot
for cleaning
for spacecraft/helicopter
for protection
of water plants
flat/apartment
Word Originnoun mid 16th cent. (in the sense ‘bundle of straw to lie on’): the senses may not be of common origin; the meaning ‘underpart of an animal's foot’ is perhaps related to Low German pad ‘sole of the foot’; the history remains obscure.
Check pronunciation:
pad