Definition

1. Noun:
   • Soft material used for filling, shaping, protecting, or adding comfort: "Padding" refers to soft or resilient material that is used to fill space, give shape to something, provide protection, or increase comfort.
   • Unnecessary or extra words: In a figurative sense, "padding" can refer to extra, often unnecessary, words or content added to make something seem longer or more substantial.

Examples of Usage

• Noun (Material):
  • The shoulder pads in this jacket have thick foam padding.
  • We added extra padding to the shipping box to protect the fragile items.
• Noun (Extra Content):
  • The essay was full of unnecessary padding to reach the word count.
  • Cut the padding from your report and get straight to the key points.

Advanced Usage

• "to add padding": to include extra material or content.
  • The author was accused of adding padding to inflate the length of the novel.
• "protective padding": padding specifically designed for safety.
  • Wear protective padding on your elbows and knees when skateboarding.

Variants and Related Words

• Pad (verb/noun): To fill or cover with soft material; a piece of soft material used for protection or comfort.
  • She padded the box with newspaper before sealing it.
  • He wrote notes on a legal pad.
• Padded (adjective): Containing or filled with padding.
  • The car doors are padded for safety.

Synonyms

• Cushioning: Material that provides a soft, protective layer.
• Filler: Material used to fill a space.
• Wadding: Soft material, especially fibers, used for padding or packing.
• Verbiage (for the figurative sense): Speech or writing that uses too many words.

Related Phrases

• Padding the bill: Illegally adding extra charges to an invoice.
  • The contractor was caught padding the bill with fictitious costs.
• Padding one's resume: Exaggerating or adding false information to a resume to make it more impressive.
  • He got the job but was later fired for padding his resume.

Related Idioms

• To pad out: To make something longer or fuller by adding extra, often less important, material.
  • The speaker padded out his presentation with irrelevant anecdotes.

Noun

1. artifact consisting of soft or resilient material used to fill or give shape or protect or add comfort