material, as cotton or straw, used to pad something.
something added unnecessarily or dishonestly, as verbiage to a speech or a false charge on an expense account.
the act of a person or thing that pads.

1820–30; pad1 + -ing1 Unabridged


1 [pad]
a soft, stuffed cushion used as a saddle; a padded leather saddle without a tree.
Zoology. a pulvillus, as on the tarsus or foot of an insect.
a lily pad.
Rocketry. launch pad.
one's living quarters, as an apartment or room.
one's bed.
a room where people gather to take narcotics; an addicts' den.
a list of police officers receiving such money.
Electricity. a nonadjustable attenuator consisting of a network of fixed resistors.
a handle for holding various small, interchangeable saw blades.
Metallurgy. a raised surface on a casting.
verb (used with object), padded, padding.
to expand or add to unnecessarily or dishonestly: to pad a speech; to pad an expense account.
verb (used without object), padded, padding.
to insure the proper forging of a piece.
on the pad, Slang. (of a police officer) receiving a bribe, especially on a regular basis.

1545–55; orig. special uses of obsolete pad bundle to lie on, perhaps blend of pack1 and bed


2 [pad]
a road horse, as distinguished from a hunting or working horse.
a highwayman.
British Dialect. a path, lane, or road.
verb (used with object), padded, padding.
to travel along on foot.
to beat down by treading.
verb (used without object), padded, padding.
to travel on foot; walk.

1545–55; (noun) < Middle Dutch or Low German pad path (orig. argot; hence, apparently, “highwayman” and “horse”); (v.) < Middle Dutch padden to make or follow a path, cognate with Old English pæththan to traverse, derivative of pæth path; defs. 1, 8 perhaps represent an independent expressive word that has been influenced by other senses Unabridged
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World English Dictionary
pad1 (pæd)
1.  a thick piece of soft material used to make something comfortable, give it shape, or protect it
2.  a guard made of flexible resilient material worn in various sports to protect parts of the body
3.  stamp pad, Also called: ink pad a block of firm absorbent material soaked with ink for transferring to a rubber stamp
4.  notepad, Also called: writing pad a number of sheets of paper fastened together along one edge
5.  a flat piece of stiff material used to back a piece of blotting paper
6.  a.  the fleshy cushion-like underpart of the foot of a cat, dog, etc
 b.  any of the parts constituting such a structure
7.  any of various level surfaces or flat-topped structures, such as a launch pad
8.  entomol a nontechnical name for pulvillus
9.  the large flat floating leaf of the water lily
10.  electronics a resistive attenuator network inserted in the path of a signal to reduce amplitude or to match one circuit to another
11.  slang a person's residence
12.  slang a bed or bedroom
vb , pads, padding, padded
13.  to line, stuff, or fill out with soft material, esp in order to protect or give shape to
14.  (often foll by out) to inflate with irrelevant or false information: to pad out a story
[C16: origin uncertain; compare Low German pad sole of the foot]

pad2 (pæd)
vb (when intr, often foll by around) , pads, padding, padded
1.  (intr; often foll by along, up, etc) to walk with a soft or muffled tread
2.  to travel (a route) on foot, esp at a slow pace; tramp: to pad around the country
3.  a dull soft sound, esp of footsteps
4.  archaic short for footpad
5.  archaic, dialect or a slow-paced horse; nag
6.  (Austral) a path or track: a cattle pad
[C16: perhaps from Middle Dutch paden, from padpath]

padding (ˈpædɪŋ)
1.  any soft material used to pad clothes, furniture, etc
2.  superfluous material put into a speech or written work to pad it out; waffle
3.  inflated or false entries in a financial account, esp an expense account

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
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Word Origin & History

1554, "bundle of straw to lie on," possibly from Low Ger. or Flem. pad "sole of the foot." Meaning "cushion-like part of an animal foot" is from 1836 in Eng. Generalized sense of "something soft" is from c.1700; the sense of "a number of sheets fastened together" (in writing pad, drawing pad, etc.) is
from 1865. Sense of "take off or landing place for a helicopter" is from 1960. The word persisted in underworld slang from early 18c. in the sense "sleeping place," and was popularized again c.1959, originally in beatnik speech (later hippie slang) in its original sense of "place to sleep temporarily." The verb meaning "to stuff, increase the amount of" is first recorded 1827, from the noun; transf. to expense accounts, etc. from 1913. Padded cell in an asylum or prison is from 1862 (padded room).

"to walk," 1553, probably from M.Du. paden "walk along a path, make a path," from pad, pat "path." Originally criminals' slang, perhaps of imitative origin (sound of feet trudging on a dirt road).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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American Heritage
Medical Dictionary

pad (pād)

  1. A soft material forming a cushion, used in applying or relieving pressure on a part, or in filling a depression so that dressings can fit snugly.

  2. A fatty mass of tissue acting as a cushion in the body, such as the fleshy underside of a finger or toe.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
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Slang Dictionary

pad definition

  1. n.
    a place to live; one's room or dwelling. : Why don't you come over to my pad for a while?
  2. tv.
    to lengthen a piece of writing with unnecessary material. (See also padded.) : This story would be better if you hadn't padded it with so much chitchat.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw-Hill Education.
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American Heritage
Abbreviations & Acronyms
  1. packet assembler/disassembler

  2. pressure anomaly detection

The American Heritage® Abbreviations Dictionary, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Example sentences
They are all constructed on heavy lines with thick padding which becomes
  water-soaked in the rainy season.
  players wore in the post-war period.
Elsewhere there are evidences of padding, staginess, and even pompousness.
Much more unusual is the foam padding covering the floor.
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