Wiktionary

pad

See also: Pad, PAD, pAD, pað, pád, and пад

English

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Pronunciation

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Etymology 1

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Illustrated set of instructions explaining a chair "with a tufted pad" (sense 1)
 
A modern-style English-saddle square pad (sense 2) on a horse
 
Right front paw of a dog showing: A) claw, B) digital pads, C) metacarpal pad, D) dewclaw, E) carpal pad (senses 4, 5)
 
An elbow pad (sense 7) worn for protection when roller skating
 
Pads (sense 8) of water lilies floating on a pond
 
Pads (sense 11) used for wicketkeeping and batting in cricket
 
A yellow legal pad (sense 12) with a pencil
 
A vehicle at a pad (sense 15)

1554, "bundle of straw to lie on", probably from 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.[1]

Noun

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pad (plural pads)

  1. A flattened mass of anything soft, to sit or lie on.
  2. A cushion used as a saddle without a tree or frame.
  3. A soft, or small, cushion.
  4. A soft area on the ends of a digit:
    1. A cushion-like thickening of the skin on the underside of the toes of animals.
    2. The mostly hairless flesh located on the bottom of an animal's foot or paw.
    3. Any cushion-like part of the human body, especially the ends of the fingers.
      Synonyms: palp, pulp
      • 1996, Stephen King, The Regulators:
        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.
  5. A stuffed guard or protection, especially one worn on the legs of horses to prevent bruising.
  6. A soft bag or cushion to relieve pressure, support a part, etc.
  7. A menstrual pad; a mass of absorbent material used to absorb menstrual flow.
    • 2024 July 2, Rukiye Arslan, Derya Yanık, Raziye Pekşen Akça, “Investigation of Menstrual Hygiene and Self-Care Skills of Adolescent Girls with Autism Spectrum Disorder: Mother Views”, in Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, →DOI:
      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.
  8. (US) A floating leaf of a water lily or similar plant.
  9. (cricket) A soft cover for a batsman's leg that protects the player from damage when hit by the ball.
  10. 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.
  11. A panel or strip of material designed to be sensitive to pressure or touch.
  12. Ellipsis of keypad.
  13. Ellipsis of mouse pad.
  14. A flat surface or area from which a helicopter or other aircraft may land or be launched.
    Synonym: helipad
  15. An electrical extension cord with a multi-port socket on one end; a "trip cord".
  16. The effect produced by sustained lower reed notes in a musical piece, most common in blues music.
  17. (music) A synthesizer instrument sound used for sustained background sounds.
    Synonym: synth pad
  18. (US, slang) A bed.
  19. (colloquial) A small house, apartment, or mobile home occupied by a single person; such as a bachelor, playboy, etc.
  20. (UK, slang) A prison cell.
  21. (cryptography) A random key (originally written on a disposable pad) of the same length as the plaintext.
  22. (electronics) The amount by which a signal has been reduced.
    • 1967, Db: The Sound Engineering Magazine - Volumes 1-2:
      It is a general practice to pad down a condenser mike with as much as a 20-30 dB pad.
  23. (nautical) A piece of timber fixed on a beam to fit the curve of the deck.
    • 1875, William Clark Russell, Jilted – Or My Uncle's Scheme:
      let us at least trust that the hair-pins will do their duty, and maintain the respectability of passion by holding the pads and puffs and frizettes in their proper places.
Hyponyms
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Derived terms
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Translations
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any cushion-like part of human body

Verb

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pad (third-person singular simple present pads, present participle padding, simple past and past participle padded)

  1. (transitive) To stuff.
  2. (transitive) To furnish with a pad or padding.
  3. (transitive) To increase the size of, especially by adding undesirable filler.
    The author began to pad her succinct stories with trite descriptions to keep up with current market trends.
    pad one's expenses
    • 2008 May 21, Austin American-Statesman:
      "Obama pads delegate lead […] with win in key western state."
  4. (transitive) To imbue uniformly with a mordant.
    to pad cloth
    • 1819, Abraham Rees, The Cyclopædia:
      […] to pad a piece in diluted acetate of alumine to obtain a pale lemon ground […]
  5. (transitive, cricket) To deliberately play the ball with the leg pad instead of the bat.
Derived terms
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Translations
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Etymology 2

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From Middle English pade, padde, from Old English padde, from Proto-West Germanic *paddā, from Proto-Germanic *paddǭ (“toad”). Cognate with Dutch pad, German Low German Pad (“toad”), dialectal German Padde, Danish padde, Swedish padda, Icelandic padda (“toad”), and possibly to English paddle. Doublet of pode

Alternative forms

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Noun

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pad (plural pads)

  2. (British, dialectal) A toad.
Derived terms
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Etymology 3

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From Dutch pad or Middle Low German pat (“path”). Doublet of path.

Noun

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pad (plural pads)

  1. (British dialectal, Australia, Ireland) A path, particularly one unformed or unmaintained; a track made by animals.
    • 1999, Julia Leigh, The Hunter, Faber & Faber 2012, p. 36:
      And when the map shows that the creek will no longer take him where he wants to go, then he looks for an animal pad and follows it, getting down on his belly and wriggling under thorny bush when he has to.
  2. An easy-paced horse; a padnag.
    • 1832 December (indicated as 1833), Alfred Tennyson, “The Lady of Shalott”, in Poems, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, part the second, page 11:
      Sometimes a troop of damsels glad, / An abbot on an ambling pad, / Sometimes a curly shepherd lad, / Or long-hair'd page, in crimson clad, / Goes by to Camelot.
  3. (British, obsolete) A robber who infests the road on foot; a highwayman or footpad.
    • 1720, John Gay, “Fables”, in Poems on Several Occasions:
      A Pad came pacing down the way : / The Cur, with never-ceasing tongue , / Upon the passing trav'ler sprung
    • 1819–1824, [Lord Byron], Don Juan, London, (please specify |canto=I to XVII):
      These free-born sounds proceeded from four pads / In ambush laid, who had perceived him loiter / Behind his carriage; and, like handy lads, / Had seized the lucky hour to reconnoitre
  4. (British, obsolete) A tramp or itinerant musician.
Derived terms
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Etymology 4

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Perhaps an alteration of ped.

Noun

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pad (plural pads)

  1. (British, dialectal) A type of wickerwork basket, especially as used as a measure of fish or other goods.[2]

Etymology 5

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Probably partly from Middle Low German pat, partly imitative. Some senses possibly influenced by pad (“soft part of an animal's foot”, noun).

Verb

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pad (third-person singular simple present pads, present participle padding, simple past and past participle padded)

  1. (transitive) To travel along (a road, path etc.).
  2. (intransitive) To travel on foot.
  3. (intransitive) To wear a path by walking.
  4. (intransitive) To walk softly, quietly or steadily, especially without shoes.
    • 1921 June, Margery Williams, “The Velveteen Rabbit: Or How Toys Become Real”, in Harper’s Bazar, volume LVI, number 6 (2504 overall), New York, N.Y.: International Magazine Company, →ISSN, →OCLC:
      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...
  5. (intransitive, obsolete) To practise highway robbery.
    • 1689, Cotton Mather, Memorable Providences, Relating to Witchcrafts and Possessions:
      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.
Derived terms
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Translations
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Etymology 6

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Probably imitative, perhaps related to or influenced by Etymology 5, above.

Interjection

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pad

  1. Indicating a soft flat sound, as of bare footsteps.
    I heard her soft footsteps, pad, pad along the corridor.
Translations
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Noun

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pad (plural pads)

  1. The sound of soft footsteps, or a similar noise made by an animal etc.
Translations
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Derived terms

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References

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  1. ^ Douglas Harper (2001–2024) “pad”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.
  2. ^ 1858, Peter Lund Simmonds, The Dictionary of Trade Products

See also

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Anagrams

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Afrikaans

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Etymology

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From Dutch pad.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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pad (plural paaie, diminutive paadjie)

  1. path; way; street

Dutch

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Pronunciation

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Etymology 1

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From Middle Dutch pat, from Old Dutch path, from Proto-West Germanic *paþ, from Proto-Germanic *paþaz (“path”). Cognate with English path, West Frisian paad and German Pfad.

Noun

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pad n (plural paden, diminutive paadje n)

  1. path (narrow road, usually unpaved)
Derived terms
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Descendants
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  • Afrikaans: pad
  • Berbice Creole Dutch: pata
  • Jersey Dutch: pât, pāt
  • Negerhollands: pad, pat

Etymology 2

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From Middle Dutch padde, pedde, from Old Dutch *padda, from Proto-West Germanic *paddā, from Proto-Germanic *paddǭ (“toad”).

Cognates
Cognate with Old English padde (compare English paddock), Old Norse padda (Swedish padda, Danish/Norwegian padde).

Noun

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pad f (plural padden, diminutive padje n)

  1. toad (an amphibian of the order Anura similar to a frog with shorter legs and more ragged skin)
Derived terms
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Descendants
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Etymology 3

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Noun

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pad c (plural padden, diminutive padje n)

  1. (cycling) the slot in the frame that accepts the axle of the wheel; dropout

Hungarian

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Etymology

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From a Slavic language, compare Serbo-Croatian pod.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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pad (plural padok)

  1. bench
  2. (education) desk (of students in school, traditionally built together with the seats)
    Synonym: iskolapad
  3. (religion) pew (in a church)
  4. (law) dock (of the defendant, in court), stand (of a witness, in court)
  5. (dialectal) attic, loft
    Synonym: padlás

Declension

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Inflection (stem in -o-, back harmony)
singular plural
nominative pad padok
accusative padot padokat
dative padnak padoknak
instrumental paddal padokkal
causal-final padért padokért
translative paddá padokká
terminative padig padokig
essive-formal padként padokként
essive-modal — —
inessive padban padokban
superessive padon padokon
adessive padnál padoknál
illative padba padokba
sublative padra padokra
allative padhoz padokhoz
elative padból padokból
delative padról padokról
ablative padtól padoktól
non-attributive
possessive - singular 		padé padoké
non-attributive
possessive - plural 		padéi padokéi
Possessive forms of pad
possessor single possession multiple possessions
1st person sing. padom padjaim
2nd person sing. padod padjaid
3rd person sing. padja padjai
1st person plural padunk padjaink
2nd person plural padotok padjaitok
3rd person plural padjuk padjaik

Derived terms

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Compound words

Further reading

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  • pad in Bárczi, Géza and László Országh. A magyar nyelv értelmező szótára (“The Explanatory Dictionary of the Hungarian Language”, abbr.: ÉrtSz.). Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1959–1962. Fifth ed., 1992: →ISBN

Old English

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Etymology

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From Proto-West Germanic *paidu, from Proto-Germanic *paidō.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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pād f

  1. an outer garment, coat, cloak

Declension

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Strong ō-stem:

singular plural
nominative pād pāda, pāde
accusative pāde pāda, pāde
genitive pāde pāda
dative pāde pādum
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Descendants

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Polish

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Polish Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia pl

Pronunciation

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Etymology 1

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Deverbal from padać.

Noun

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pad m inan

  1. (sports) a quick fall with the whole body to the ground

Etymology 2

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Clipping of gamepad.

Noun

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pad m inan

  1. (video games) gamepad
    Synonyms: gamepad, joypad
Declension
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Declension of pad
singular plural
nominative pad pady
genitive padu padów
dative padowi padom
accusative pad pady
instrumental padem padami
locative padzie padach
vocative padzie pady

Further reading

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  • pad in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
  • pad in Polish dictionaries at PWN

Serbo-Croatian

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Etymology

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Inherited from Proto-Slavic *padъ.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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pȃd m (Cyrillic spelling па̑д)

  1. fall

Declension

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Declension of pad
singular plural
nominative pȃd pádovi
genitive pada padova
dative padu padovima
accusative pad padove
vocative pade padovi
locative padu padovima
instrumental padom padovima
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Sumerian

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Romanization

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pad

  1. Romanization of 𒉻 (pad)

Volapük

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Noun

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pad (nominative plural pads)

  1. page

Declension

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declension of pad
singular plural
nominative pad pads
genitive pada padas
dative pade pades
accusative padi padis
vocative 1 o pad! o pads!
predicative 2 padu padus
  • 1 status as a case is disputed
  • 2 in later, non-classical Volapük only
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Chat 1
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punk 1
see 6