English▸ noun
1 a thick piece of soft material, typically used to protect or shape something, or to absorb liquid:
a pad of cotton wool.
▪ a protective guard worn by a sports player to protect a part of the body:
cricket pads.
2 the fleshy underpart of an animal's foot or of a human finger:
a dog's pads will bleed profusely if cut.
3 a number of sheets of blank paper fastened together at one edge, used for writing or drawing:
she sketched something on a big white pad.
4 a flat-topped structure or area used for helicopter take-off and landing or for rocket-launching:
an office building with a helicopter pad.
6 Electronics a flat area on a track of a printed circuit or on the edge of an integrated circuit to which wires or component leads can be attached to make an electrical connection.
▸ verb
( pads, padding, padded)
[with object] 1 fill or cover (something) with soft material in order to protect it or its contents, make it more comfortable, or give it a particular shape:
the boxing gloves are padded with impact-resistant foam rubber
wrap dishes and glassware individually, and pad the box with paper or bubble wrap.
2 (pad something out) lengthen a speech, piece of writing, etc. with unnecessary material:
don't pad out your answer to make it seem impressive
the short review is padded with irrelevant blather about ‘Monty Python’.
– ORIGIN mid 16th century (in the sense ‘bundle of straw to lie on’): the senses may not be of common origin; the meaning ‘underpart of an animal's foot’ is perhaps related to Low German pad ‘sole of the foot’; the history remains obscure.