• IPA: /pæd/

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

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.
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.

    Synonyms: 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.

    Synonyms: 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.
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.

• French: tampon, coussinet, coussinette
• German: Unterlage, Polster, Kissen, Matte, Polsterung
• Russian: подкла́дка
• Spanish: almohadilla

• French: coussinet
• German: Reitkissen

• French: coussinette
• Russian: поду́шечка
• Spanish: almohadilla

• French: coussinet
• German: Polster, Ballen

• French: coussinet
• German: Pfote

• German: Ballen, Fettpolster, Polster

• German: Schutzpolster, Schoner, Knieschoner, Schienbeinschoner, Unterlage, Schutzunterlage, Ellbogenschützer, Ellenbogenschützer, Knieschützer, Kniepolster

• German: Stützpolster, Stütze, Nackenstütze, Kopfstütze, Armstütze
• Italian: cercine, torsello

• German: Seerosenblatt

• German: Schienbeinschoner

• French: bloc
• German: Block, Schreibblock, Notizblock, Abreissblock, Schulblock, Schreibunterlage, Zeichenblock, Memoblock, Notizklotz, Quittungsblock, Rechnungsblock
• Italian: blocco
• Portuguese: bloco
• Spanish: bloc

• German: Kontaktmatte, Graphiktablett, Durchschreibepapier

• French: pavé numérique, clavier (de téléphone)
• German: Tastatur, Klaviatur, Klappenpolster

• German: Landeplatz, Startplattform, Starttisch

• German: Verlängerungsschonur (mit mehreren Steckdosen), Verlängerungsschnur (mit mehreren Steckdosen)

• French: pieu, plumard, plume, paddock

• French: piaule, taule
• Russian: жилье

pad (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

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.

• French: rembourrer
• German: stopfen, hineinstopfen

• German: füllen, verlängern

From Middle English pade, padde, from Old English padde, from Proto-Germanic *paddǭ.

pad (plural pads)

1. (British, dialectal) A toad.

From Dutch pad or Middle Low German pat.

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.

pad (plural pads)

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

pad (pads, present participle padding; simple past and past participle padded)

1. (transitive) To travel along (a road, path etc.).
   • 1727, William Somervile, The Fortune Hunter:

     Padding the streets for half a crown.

2. (intransitive) To travel on foot.
3. (intransitive) To wear a path by walking.
   • 1855, Robert Browning, Childe Roland to the Dark Tower Came, section XXII:

     Who were the strugglers, what war did they wage, / Whose savage trample thus could pad the dank / Soil to a plash? [...]

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.

• German: tappen

1. Indicating a soft flat sound, as of bare footsteps.

   I heard her soft footsteps, pad, pad along the corridor.

pad (plural pads)

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

pad (uncountable)

1. (disease) Initialism of w:peripheral artery disease