n. That upon or within which one reposes or sleeps.n. Hence By extension, the resting-place of an animal.n. Any sleeping-place; a lodging; accommodation for the night.n. Matrimonial connection; conjugal union; matrimonial rights and duties.n. Offspring; progeny.n. Anything resembling, or assumed to resemble, a bed in form or position.n. The bottom of a river or other stream, or of any body of water.n. A layer; a stratum; an extended mass of anything, whether upon the earth or within it: as, a bed of sulphur; a bed of sand or clay. In geology a bed is a layer of rock; a portion of a rock-mass which has so much homogeneity, and is so separated from the rock which lies over and under it, that it has a character of its own. This distinctness of character may be given by peculiarities of composition, texture, or color, or simply by a facility of separation from the associated beds. Thus, there may be a bed of marble intercalated in a mass of shale; or there may be several beds of marble associated together, each bed being individualized by peculiarities of texture or color. In the latter case there would ordinarily be a distinct break or solution of continuity between the different beds, so that when quarried they would separate from each other without difficulty along the plane of contact. The Latin word stratum is commonly employed in geological writings, and is almost the exact equivalent of bed. Bed, as applied to mineral deposits, implies ordinarily that the masses of ore thus characterized lie flat, and have more or less of the character of sedimentary deposits, in distinction from those of true veins, or lodes.n. Anything resembling a bed in function; that on which anything lies, or in which anything is embedded. Particularly—n. A flock or number of animals, as of wild fowl on the water, closely packed together.n. A division of the ground in the game of hop-scotch, also called locally the game of “beds.”To place in or as in a bed.To go to bed with; make partaker of one's bed.To provide a bed for; furnish with accommodations for sleeping.To put to bed; specifically, to put (a couple) to bed together, as was formerly the custom at weddings.To make a bed of, or plant in beds, as a mass of flowering plants or foliage-plants; also, to transplant into a bed or beds, as from pots or a hothouse: often with out.To embed; fix or set in a permanent position; furnish with a bed: as, to bed a stone.To lay in a stratum; stratify; lay in order or fiat.To make a bed for, as a horse: commonly used with down.To go to bed; retire to sleep: by extension applied to animals.To cohabit; use the same bed; sleep together.To rest as in or on a bed: with on.To flock closely together, as wild fowl on the surface of the water.To sleep; pass the night, as game in cover.An occasional Middle English preterit of bid.n. The curved piece of wood which forms the main section of the platform carriage-part of a vehicle.
