featherbed
Học thuậtThân thiện
Definition
Noun:
- A soft mattress stuffed with feathers or down.
Verb:
- To hire more workers than are necessary for a task or job.
- To treat someone with excessive indulgence or leniency; to pamper or coddle.
Examples of Usage
Noun:
- The old hotel room had a luxurious featherbed.
- She sank into the comfort of the featherbed.
Verb (meaning: to overstaff):
- The union contract forced the company to featherbed, keeping on workers it didn't need.
- Critics argued the regulation would featherbed the industry with unnecessary jobs.
Verb (meaning: to pamper):
- He tends to featherbed his youngest child, rarely setting any rules.
- The coach refused to featherbed the star athlete, insisting on the same rigorous training for everyone.
Advanced Usage
- The verb form often carries a negative connotation, implying inefficiency (in the case of overstaffing) or harmful spoiling (in the case of pampering).
- In economic or labor contexts, "featherbedding" is a common gerund (the -ing form used as a noun) to describe the practice of requiring unnecessary employment.
Variants and Related Words
- Featherbedding (n): The practice of hiring unnecessary workers or creating unnecessary jobs, especially as required by a union contract.
- The new law aimed to reduce featherbedding in the railway industry.
Synonyms
- Noun: Down mattress.
- Verb (to overstaff): Overman, overstaff.
- Verb (to pamper): Spoil, indulge, coddle, mollycoddle, cosset, pamper.
Related Phrases and Idioms
- To be featherbedded: To be in a situation of unnecessary employment or excessive comfort.
- The workers were featherbedded by the old agreement, but the new management ended the practice.
Noun
- a mattress stuffed with feathers
Verb
- hire more workers than are necessary
- treat with excessive indulgence
- grandparents often pamper the children
- Let's not mollycoddle our students!