A thick piece of soft material used for protection, comfort, or absorption. As a verb, means to fill out with unnecessary material or to walk softly.
Originally from Dutch 'pad' meaning 'path' or 'toad', later influenced by 'padding'. The cushion sense emerged in the 16th century, possibly from the flat shape resembling a toad. The verb meaning 'to stuff' developed from the noun usage.
The connection between 'pad' (cushion) and 'pad' (path) isn't accidental - early paths were often soft dirt tracks that looked flat and toad-like from above! The phrase 'padding the bill' comes from literally stuffing extra material into accounts, like padding into a cushion.
Complete word intelligence in one call. Free tier — 50 lookups/day.