Word: cushion Part of Speech: noun Etymology: From Middle English quysshyn, from later Old French coissin (modern coussin), from Vulgar Latin *coxīnus (“seat pad”), derived from Latin coxa (“hip, thigh”) (with the suffix possibly after Latin pulvīnus (“pillow”)), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *koḱs- (“joint, limb”). Pronunciation: /ˈkʊʃən/, /ˈkɵʃən/, /ˈkʉʃən/ 1. A soft mass of material stuffed into a cloth bag, used for comfort or support. Labels: countable, uncountable Example: “There the cause of death was soon ascertained ; the victim of this daring outrage had been stabbed to death from ear to ear with a long, sharp instrument, in shape like an antique stiletto, which […] was subsequently found under the cushions of the hansom.[…]” Example: There were many wooden chairs for the bulk of his visitors, and two wicker armchairs with red cloth cushions for superior people. From the packing-cases had emerged some Indian clubs,[…], and all these articles[…] made a scattered and untidy decoration that Mrs. Clough assiduously dusted and greatly cherished. 2. A soft mass of material stuffed into a cloth bag, used for comfort or support. Labels: Commonwealth, countable, uncountable 3. A soft mass of material stuffed into a cloth bag, used for comfort or support. Labels: countable, uncountable 4. Something acting as a cushion, especially to absorb a shock or impact. Labels: countable, uncountable 5. Something acting as a cushion, especially to absorb a shock or impact. Labels: countable, uncountable 6. Something acting as a cushion, especially to absorb a shock or impact. Labels: countable, uncountable 7. Something acting as a cushion, especially to absorb a shock or impact. Labels: countable, uncountable 8. Something acting as a cushion, especially to absorb a shock or impact. Labels: countable, uncountable 9. Something acting as a cushion, especially to absorb a shock or impact. Labels: countable, historical, uncountable 10. Something acting as a cushion, especially to absorb a shock or impact. Labels: countable, historical, uncountable 11. a sufficient quantity of an intangible object (like points or minutes) to allow for some of those points, for example, to be lost without hurting one's chances for successfully completing an objective. Labels: countable, figuratively, uncountable Example: Wisla made a bright start to the second half and Fulham keeper Mark Schwarzer was twice called into action, first saving Gervasio Nunez's deflected 20-yard effort and then smothering Gargula's free-kick. But Fulham soon had the cushion of a third goal after more outstanding build-up play. Example: It will most likely not alter the destination of the league title, which still seems bound for City, who retain an 11-point cushion at the top 12. a sufficient quantity of an intangible object (like points or minutes) to allow for some of those points, for example, to be lost without hurting one's chances for successfully completing an objective. Labels: countable, figuratively, uncountable Example: The entry-level wages are abominable, still something like $15,000 a year. You can't possibly be a working class person and live on that in New York City. You need some kind of family "cushion." So what you'll find in publishing is middle class professionals, people who see material about working class people as "foreign." Example: Interest coverage is important because it is an indicator of how much cushion a company has in making its interest payments. 13. The dancer in the cushion dance who currently holds the cushion, or the dance itself. Labels: countable, historical, uncountable Example: But of these kind of second Courses I am the onely Cook; though yet those ordinary practises of our Feasts, as choosing a King, throwing Dice, drinking Healths, trouling it Round, dancing the Cushion and the like, were not invented by the seven Wise Men but my Self, and that too for the common pleasure of Mankind. Example: The young man advances to the fiddler, drops a penny in the pot, and gives it to one of his companions. Cushion then dances round the room, followed by the pot, and when they again reach the fiddler, the cushion says, in a sort of recitative, accompanied by the music, 'This dance it will no farther go.'