Definition

1. Noun:

   • A soft mattress stuffed with feathers or down.

2. 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

1. a mattress stuffed with feathers

Verb

1. hire more workers than are necessary
2. treat with excessive indulgence
   • grandparents often pamper the children
   • Let's not mollycoddle our students!