Synonyms

padding

American

[pad-ing] / ˈpæd ɪŋ /

noun

material, as cotton or straw, used to pad something.
something added unnecessarily or dishonestly, as verbiage to a speech or a false charge on an expense account.
the act of a person or thing that pads. pad.

padding British

/ ˈpædɪŋ /

noun

any soft material used to pad clothes, furniture, etc
superfluous material put into a speech or written work to pad it out; waffle
inflated or false entries in a financial account, esp an expense account

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of padding

First recorded in 1820–30; pad ¹ + -ing ¹

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Sure enough, there was Mother padding about in the darkness.

From Literature

His decision to chase balls in Argentina, rather than CV padding in the UK, helped his frame bulk out and convert into a second row.

From BBC

With all that soft padding on the jaws of the trap, it probably wouldn’t hurt a monkey’s paw at all.

From Literature

“Oh, now, there, there, little lamb, drink some more. You’ve banged yourself up quite a bit. There’s no padding on those scrawny bones of yours. Can be quite useful, you know.”

From Literature

It requires padding, helmets, tape, playbooks, film and 22 players.

From The Wall Street Journal

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023