Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
♨️ Heating pad 🍽️ Table protector
hot pad

hot pad

1.5
A small pad you put under a hot dish to protect a table or countertop
  • noun
  • /hɑt pæd/
  • US
translation icon : mantelito

Examples

  • I'd make up sins to confess, giving him something interesting to listen to instead of the endless round of women like my mother, grandmother, and aunts who maybe at worst let "sweet Jesus" slip when they lifted a roasting pan without a hot pad.

    Fiction book (1998)

  • She placed the hot dish on the hot pad to protect the kitchen counter from damage.

  • Using a hot pad helps prevent burns and preserves the surface beneath your cookware.

  • I bought a colorful hot pad to put under my casserole dish when serving dinner.

Synonyms

pad
vshot pad
118 1.4

A soft piece of material used to protect things or hold liquid

is small and made to protect surfaces from heat under hot dishes
table mat
vshot pad
  • UK
1.1

A small flat pad that goes under plates to protect the table from heat and scratches

is used specifically under hot dishes to protect surfaces from heat

How Protective

hot pad
  • US
1.5
trivet
1 7.9
table mat
  • UK
1.1
coaster
84 1.0

Surface Forms

hot pad singular
hot pads plural

Morphology

hot + pad

The meaning 'a small pad placed under a hot dish to protect a surface' is directly and compositionally derived from 'hot' (heated) + 'pad' (a protective, cushioned layer). This is a literal adjective+noun combination following common compounding patterns, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents will readily infer the meaning.

Etymology

Hot pad comes from the picture of a small pad put under a hot dish to stop the heat from burning a table. So, a hot pad means 'a pad used to protect a surface from a hot pot'.