cushion Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun a mechanical damper; absorbs energy of sudden impulses
    shock; shock absorber.
    • the old car needed a new set of shocks
  2. noun the layer of air that supports a hovercraft or similar vehicle
  3. noun a soft bag filled with air or a mass of padding such as feathers or foam rubber etc.
  4. verb protect from impact
    buffer; soften.
    • cushion the blow

WordNet

Cush"ion noun
Etymology
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.
Definitions
  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.
Cush"ion transitive verb
Wordforms
imperfect & past participle Cushioned present participle & vb Cushioning
Definitions
  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.

Webster 1913