1. 1. A piece of furniture for reclining and sleeping, typically consisting of a flat, rectangular frame and a mattress resting on springs.
   2. A bedstead.
   3. A mattress.
2. 1. A place where one may sleep; lodging: found bed and board at an inn.
   2. Accommodations for a single person at a hospital or institution: a maternity ward with 30 beds.
3. A time at which one goes to sleep: drank milk before bed.
4. A place for lovemaking.
5. A marital relationship with its rights and intimacies.
6. 1. A small plot of cultivated or planted land: a flower bed.
   2. An underwater or intertidal area in which a particular organism is established in large numbers: a clam bed; an oyster bed.
7. The bottom of a body of water, such as a stream.
8. A supporting, underlying, or securing part, especially:
   1. A layer of food surmounted by another kind of food: tomatoes on a bed of lettuce.
   2. A foundation of crushed rock or a similar substance for a road or railroad; a roadbed.
   3. A layer of mortar upon which stones or bricks are laid.
9. Printing. The heavy table of a printing press in which the type form is placed.
10. The part of a truck, trailer, or freight car designed to carry loads.
11. Geology.
    1. A rock mass of large horizontal extent bounded, especially above, by physically different material.
    2. A deposit, as of ore, parallel to local stratification.
12. A heap of material: a bed of wood chips.

1. To furnish with a bed or sleeping quarters: We bedded our guests down in the study.
2. To put or send to bed.
3. To have sexual relations with.
4. To plant in a prepared plot of soil.
5. To lay flat or arrange in layers.
6. 1. To embed.
   2. To establish; base.

1. To go to bed.
2. Geology. To form layers or strata.

get into bed with

1. SlangTo become closely involved with another person or group, as in an intrigue:"The Israelis were experienced at this kind of [covert] ... work, but it was essential that the administration not get into bed with them on this"Bob Woodward. To become closely involved with another person or group, as in an intrigue: "The Israelis were experienced at this kind of [covert] ... work, but it was essential that the administration not get into bed with them on this" (Bob Woodward).

1. To have sexual relations with.

[Middle English, from Old English.]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.