Noun

Singular bed

Plural beds

bed (plural beds)

1. A piece of furniture, usually flat and soft, to sleep on.

   My cat often sleeps on my bed.

   I keep a glass of water next to my bed when I sleep.

2. (uncountable) One's bed, or a bed as a general place or concept.

   Go to bed!

   He's been afraid of bed since he saw the scary film.

   I had breakfast in bed this morning.

3. A prepared spot to spend the night in, as in camping bed.

   He made a bed to sleep in for the night from hay and a blanket.

4. A garden plot, as in "bed of roses".

   We added a new rosebush to our rose bed.

5. The bottom of a lake or other body of water, as in "sea bed".

   There's a lot of trash on the bed of the river.

6. An area where a large number of oysters, mussels, or other sessile shellfish is found.

   Oysters are farmed from their beds.

7. A flat surface or layer on which something else is to be placed.

   The meats and cheeses lay on a bed of lettuce.

8. A foundation or supporting surface formed of a fluid.

   A bed of concrete makes a strong subsurface for an asphalt parking lot.

9. The platform of a truck, trailer, railcar, or other vehicle that supports the load to be hauled.

   The parcels were thrown onto the truck bed before transportation.

10. A deposit of ore, coal etc.
11. A shaped piece of timber to hold a cask clear of a ship’s floor; a pallet.
12. A piece of music, normally instrumental, over which a Radio DJ talks.

A bed ( listen (help·info)) is a piece of furniture (or a location) used as a place to sleep.

Beds usually consist of a mattress placed on top of a box spring inner-sprung base. The box spring is a large mattress-sized box containing wood and springs that provide additional support and suspension for the mattress.

The box spring will typically lie on a bed frame (which lifts the mattress/mattress-box spring off the ground) or on slats (usually made of 1" x 4" wood).

A "headboard", "side rails", and "footboard" or "front rail" will complete the bed.

"Headboard only" beds often incorporate a dust ruffle, bed skirt, or valance sheet to hide the bed frame.

For greater head support, most people use a pillow, placed at the top of a mattress. Also used is some form of covering blanket to insulate the sleeper, often bed sheets, a quilt, or a duvet.

Also, some people prefer to dispense with the box spring and bed frame, and replace it with a platform bed style. This is more common in Europe, Australia and Japan.

History