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Glite Dictionary
to bed in

to bed in

5 6.7
Make something new, like shoes or a machine, work well by using it for a while
  • phrasal verb
  • Specialized
translation icon : asentar
  • It's important to bed in the new machinery properly so it can function effectively over time.

Examples

  • After installing the furnace, the contractor needed a few days to bed in the new equipment before it could be fully operational.

  • The technician spent several hours working to bed in the new software system, ensuring it ran smoothly.

  • So I'm then just going to focus that on the other corner here and just pat it to start off with, just to bed it in there that is so dark.

  • But D'Cey would happily bed down in a nest of cobras rather than disturb a trapped leopard.

    Fiction book (2000)

Synonyms

to burn in
vsto bed in
  • Specialized
1 6.9

Run new devices for a while to make sure they work well

is done by normal use and settling over time rather than testing

How Settled

to settle
540 2.8
to break in
29 3.4
to bed in
  • Specialized
5 6.7
to run
∞ 2.2
to start up
38 3.0

Surface Forms

bed in infinitive
bedded in past
bedded in past participle
bedding in present participle
beds in third person singular

Morphology

bed + in

The meaning 'to make something work effectively by allowing it to settle' has a recognisable metaphorical link to 'bed' as placing or settling something and 'in' as indicating into a stable state, so part of the sense is derivable from the constituents. However, the usage is somewhat technical/metaphorical and not an immediately predictable composition for a B1 learner without prior exposure, so it is only partially transparent.

Etymology

Bed in comes from the image of letting something 'settle' into its place by using it slowly. Think of new shoes or a new machine: after some use the parts or material 'fit' together better, so to bed in means to make a new thing work well by using it over time.