bed

The word “bed” means a piece of furniture for sleeping or resting on. In plain terms, a place to sleep, a garden plot, or the floor of a river/sea — plus the verb meaning to set something firmly in place.

“Bed” is pronounced BEHD (/ˈbɛd/ in IPA).

Here is “bed” used in a sentence: “He collapsed onto the bed after the long flight.”

Depending on how it is used, “bed” can be a noun and a verb.

The word “bed” comes from Old English. From Old English bedd, "resting place, plot of ground," from an ancient Germanic root possibly connected to a much older word meaning "to dig" — which would also explain the "garden plot" sense.

“Bed” is a very common word in modern English, usually learned at around the A1 level.

“Bed” has 4 distinct senses listed in this dictionary. The most common is: a piece of furniture for sleeping or resting on.

Common types include single (or twin), double, queen and king beds, sized by width. Others are named by design: bunk beds stack two frames, sofa beds fold out from a couch, four-poster beds have corner posts, and daybeds double as seating. Cots and cribs are small beds for babies.

The bed is the whole piece of furniture, usually including a frame and a base or slats. The mattress is the thick, padded pad that sits on top and that you actually lie on. You sleep on the mattress, which the bed supports and holds off the floor.

From smallest to largest, the usual run is single (or twin), small double, double, queen, king and super king. Exact measurements vary between countries — UK and US sizes differ — but the order of names stays broadly the same, each step adding width and sometimes length.