Bed (&unr_;), n. [AS. bed, bedd; akin to OS. bed, D. bed, bedde, Icel. be&unr_;r, Dan. bed, Sw. bädd, Goth. badi, OHG. betti, G. bett, bette, bed, beet a plat of ground; all of uncertain origin.] 1. An article of furniture to sleep or take rest in or on; a couch. Specifically: A sack or mattress, filled with some soft material, in distinction from the bedstead on which it is placed (as, a feather bed), or this with the bedclothes added. In a general sense, any thing or place used for sleeping or reclining on or in, as a quantity of hay, straw, leaves, or twigs.
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And made for him [a horse] a leafy bed. Byron.
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I wash, wring, brew, bake, . . . make the beds. Shak.
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In bed he slept not for my urging it. Shak.
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2. (Used as the symbol of matrimony) Marriage.
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George, the eldest son of his second bed. Clarendon.
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3. A plat or level piece of ground in a garden, usually a little raised above the adjoining ground. “Beds of hyacinth and roses.” Milton.
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4. A mass or heap of anything arranged like a bed; as, a bed of ashes or coals.
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5. The bottom of a watercourse, or of any body of water; as, the bed of a river.
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So sinks the daystar in the ocean bed. Milton.
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6. (Geol.) A layer or seam, or a horizontal stratum between layers; as, a bed of coal, iron, etc.
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7. (Gun.) See Gun carriage, and Mortar bed.
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8. (Masonry) (a) The horizontal surface of a building stone; as, the upper and lower beds. (b) A course of stone or brick in a wall. (c) The place or material in which a block or brick is laid. (d) The lower surface of a brick, slate, or tile. Knight.
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9. (Mech.) The foundation or the more solid and fixed part or framing of a machine; or a part on which something is laid or supported; as, the bed of an engine.
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10. The superficial earthwork, or ballast, of a railroad.
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11. (Printing) The flat part of the press, on which the form is laid.
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&hand_; Bed is much used adjectively or in combination; as, bed key or bedkey; bed wrench or bedwrench; bedchamber; bedmaker, etc.
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Bed of justice (French Hist.), the throne (F. lit bed) occupied by the king when sitting in one of his parliaments (judicial courts); hence, a session of a refractory parliament, at which the king was present for the purpose of causing his decrees to be registered. -- To be brought to bed, to be delivered of a child; -- often followed by of; as, to be brought to bed of a son. -- To make a bed, to prepare a bed; to arrange or put in order a bed and its bedding. -- From bed and board (Law), a phrase applied to a separation by partial divorce of man and wife, without dissolving the bonds of matrimony. If such a divorce (now commonly called a judicial separation) be granted at the instance of the wife, she may have alimony.
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Bed (&unr_;), v. i. To go to bed; to cohabit.
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If he be married, and bed with his wife. Wiseman.
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