🧘 A flat pad 🧶 A tangled mass 🧶 To tangle 🖼️ A picture border 🏗️ A thick base 🌫️ No shine 💄 Not shiny

mat

8 1.8

A thick mass of things tangled together, like hair or seaweed

noun
/mæt/

: maraña

The other children were building a tower out of gymnasium mats left behind in the second-graders' hour.
algal mats
microbial mats
dense root mats

Dregs of the season depend from the trees, wet mats of leaves still being rained on.

Examples

On the ground, climbing fern creates tough, spongy mats that can easily smother grasses, low-growing shrubs, and small trees.

Academic text (2002)
The gardener pulled back the mat of weeds to reveal the blooming flowers underneath.
The smell of his skin, his cigarettes, the mat of hair upon his chest.

Fiction book (1999)
A breeze was shaking the cane mats that closed either end of the long porch.

Fiction book (1993)
I rolled up large mats of this plant and filled four large 33-gallon trash bags.

Academic text (1998)
What's more, the fern can form tough, spongy mats on the ground.

Academic text (2000)
The rooms themselves, their floors covered with straw mats or tatamis, are sparsely furnished.

Academic text (1993)
In winter, barren limbs draped in Spanish moss graze the pale-green mat of algae that covers its surface.

Academic text (2011)
She noticed a mat of moss covering the stones in the shaded area of the forest.
The artist used a mat of fibers to create a unique texture in her latest painting.

Synonyms

tangle

vsmat

13 5.5

A confused situation that is hard to understand or solve

is specifically a dense physical mass rather than a general confused state

scraggle

vsmat

9.6

A rough tangled mass of hair, stems, or plants

is denser and more tightly interwoven rather than loose and uneven

Idioms

to go to the mat

Informal

5 7.6

Argue strongly to protect an idea or position

to roll out the welcome mat

Informal

1 4.8

Make someone feel very welcome by giving special care

to called on the mat

Archaic

8.9

To have a boss or leader tell you off for doing something wrong

Compounds

welcome mat

10 1.7

A small mat outside a door for wiping shoes and greeting visitors

bath mat

4 1.0

A small rug on the bathroom floor that soaks up water and keeps you from slipping

prayer mat

2 2.5

A small rug Muslims kneel on when they pray

gym mat

1 1.6

A thick pad on the floor that makes landings softer and safer

wrestling mat

1 2.8

A thick padded surface that wrestlers use to avoid injury when they fall

beer mat

1 1.8

A small mat that you put under a glass of beer to stop drips

mat board

1 3.9

A stiff flat board you put around a picture inside a frame to protect and show it

place mat

1 1.2

A small mat under a person's plate that protects the table and decorates it

drip mat

3.7

A small mat placed under a glass to protect a table or counter from water

mat rep

Jargon

8.2

One time you do an exercise on a mat

mouse mat

2.5

A small pad under a computer mouse that helps it move smoothly

sea mat

9.9

A group of small animals that grow like underwater moss on rocks or seaweed

table mat

1.1

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

water mat

9.9

A water plant with yellow flowers that grows at pond edges in western and central United States

water mat

3.1

A flat mat that floats on water for sitting, lying, or playing

How Tangled

mat

8 1.8

to tangle

46 3.7

strand

58 3.1

Surface Forms

mat singular

mats plural

Etymology

Mat meaning a tangled mass comes from the idea of a bundle or pad of fibers, so a 'mat' of hair or weeds is a thick, stuck-together mass of strands.