duvet
Duvet (noun) means a thick, soft quilt filled with down, feathers or synthetic fibre, used on a bed instead of a top sheet and blankets and normally slipped inside a washable cover. Example: “She pulled the duvet over her head and went back to sleep.”
How to Use Duvet
Learner’s notesIn plain EnglishIt is the thick padded quilt you sleep under.
The standard British word; Americans usually say comforter, and reserve duvet for the insert that goes inside a duvet cover. Warmth is sold by tog rating in the UK and by fill power or season in the US.
Fill the Gap
Can you complete this real example?
She pulled the _____ over her head and went back to sleep.
Etymology
From French duvet, down or fine feathers.
Synonyms
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Frequently Asked Questions
What is the difference between a duvet and a comforter?
A duvet is a plain filled insert designed to go inside a removable cover that you wash. A comforter is quilted, decorative and used as it comes, with no cover, so the whole thing has to be laundered.
What does the tog rating on a duvet mean?
Tog measures how well the duvet traps heat, not how heavy it is. Around 4.5 tog suits summer, 9 to 10.5 tog is the usual all-year choice, and 13.5 tog is for cold winter bedrooms.
How often should you wash a duvet?
The cover should be washed with the bedding, roughly every one to two weeks. The duvet itself only needs washing two or three times a year, and many need a large commercial machine to dry properly.