pad (pads plural & 3rd person present) (padding present participle) (padded past tense & past participle )
1 n-count A pad is a fairly thick, flat piece of a material such as cloth or rubber. Pads are used, for example, to clean things, to protect things, or to change their shape.
He withdrew the needle and placed a pad of cotton-wool over the spot., ...a scouring pad.
2 n-count A padof paper is a number of pieces of paper which are fixed together along the top or the side, so that each piece can be torn off when it has been used.
She wrote on a pad of paper..., Have a pad and pencil ready and jot down some of your thoughts...
3 verb When someone pads somewhere, they walk there with steps that are fairly quick, light, and quiet.
Freddy speaks very quietly and pads around in soft velvet slippers... V prep/adv
I often bumped into him as he padded the corridors. V n
4 n-count A pad is a platform or an area of flat, hard ground where helicopters take off and land or rockets are launched.
...a little round helicopter pad., ...a landing pad on the back of the ship...
→
launch pad
5 n-count The padsof a person's fingers and toes or of an animal's feet are the soft, fleshy parts of them.
usu pl, usu N of n
Tap your cheeks all over with the pads of your fingers.
6 verb If you pad something, you put something soft in it or over it in order to make it less hard, to protect it, or to give it a different shape.
Pad the back of a car seat with a pillow... V n with n
I can tell you I always padded my bras. V n
padded adj
...a padded jacket., ...back-rests padded with camel's wool.
7 →
padding pad out phrasal verb If you pad out a piece of writing or a speech with unnecessary words or pieces of information, you include them in it to make it longer and hide the fact that you have not got very much to say. The reviewer padded out his review with a lengthy biography of the author... V P n (not pron) with n, Also V n P, V n P with n
launching pad (launching pads plural )A launching pad is the same as a launch pad. n-count
launch pad (launch pads plural )
1 n-count A launch pad or launching pad is a platform from which rockets, missiles, or satellites are launched.
2 n-count A launch pad or launching pad is a situation, for example a job, which you can use in order to go forward to something better or more important.
(=stepping stone)
Wimbledon has been a launch pad for so many players...
mouse pad (mouse pads plural ), mousepad A mouse pad is the same as a mouse mat.
(mainly AM) n-count
scratch pad (scratch pads plural )A scratch pad is a temporary storage memory in a computer. (COMPUTING) n-count
shoulder pad (shoulder pads plural )Shoulder pads are small pads that are put inside the shoulders of a jacket, coat, or other article of clothing in order to raise them. n-count
