CUSHIONING
padding, cushioning
(noun) artifact consisting of soft or resilient material used to fill or give shape or protect or add comfort
Source: WordNet® 3.1
Verb
cushioning
present participle of cushion
Source: Wiktionary
CUSHION
Cush"ion (ksh"n), n. Etym: [OE. cuischun, quisshen, OF. coissin,
cuissin, F. coussin, fr. (assumed) LL. culcitinum, dim. of L. culcita
cushion, mattress, pillow. See Quilt, and cf. Counterpoint a
coverlet.]
1. A case or bag stuffed with some soft and elastic material, and
used to sit or recline upon; a soft pillow or pad.
Two cushions stuffed with straw, the seat to raise. Dryden.
2. Anything resembling a cushion in properties or use; as:
(a) a pad on which gilders cut gold leaf;
(b) a mass of steam in the end of the cylinder of a steam engine to
receive the impact of the piston;
(c) the elastic edge of a billiard table.
3. A riotous kind of dance, formerly common at weddings; -- called
also cushion dance. Halliwell. Cushion capital.(Arch.) A capital so
sculptured as to appear like a cushion pressed down by the weight of
its entablature. (b) A name given to a form of capital, much used in
the Romanesque style, modeled like a bowl, the upper part of which is
cut away on four sides, leaving vertical faces.
– Cushion star (Zoöl.) a pentagonal starfish belonging to
Goniaster, Astrogonium, and other allied genera; -- so called from
its form.
Cush"ion (ksh"n), v. t. [imp. & p.p. Cushioned (-nd); p. pr. & vb.
Cushioning.]
1. To seat or place on, or as on a cushion.
Many who are cushioned on thrones would have remained in obscurity.
Bolingbroke.
2. To furnish with cushions; as, to cushion a chaise.
3. To conceal or cover up, as under a cushion. Cushioned hammer, a
dead-stroke hammer. See under Dead-stroke.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition