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wadding

wadding

2 6.0
Soft thick material used to protect fragile things when packing or to make clothes warm
  • noun
  • /ˈwɑːdɪŋ/
translation icon : guata
  • OK, so we've got this wadding nicely packed down.
  • cotton wadding

Examples

  • For Charles's left ear is plugged with cotton wadding.

    Fiction book (1991)
  • See if you can find some rags we can use for wadding.

  • He pulls some cotton wadding from his pocket, stuffs more into his already-stuffed ears.

    Fiction book (1992)
  • The wadding, undone, reveals a smaller wad of gauze taped up inside.

    Fiction book (1998)
  • Hers contained not a cotton swab, but a small wadding of white fabric that was stained the color of rust and had grown quite stiff.

    Fiction book (1997)
  • He had a bench with loaders, bins of shells, crimpers, wadding, and sacks of powder (a mix he concocted from a book).

    Fiction book (2001)
  • The quilt was incredibly warm because it was filled with soft cotton wadding.

  • She used some layers of wadding to cushion the fragile items in the package.

  • After sewing the fabric together, I added wadding for extra comfort.

Synonyms

packing
vswadding
25 1.0

Material used to wrap and protect things during transport

is also used to fill garments and quilting rather than only for wrapping
batting
vswadding
  • Specialized
5 4.2

Soft layers of cotton, wool or synthetic fiber used inside quilts and pillows

is used also to protect or pack items beyond textile filling
packing material
vswadding
4 2.5

Material like bubble wrap that protects things during shipping or storage

is also used as a soft filler in garments and quilting

How Protective

cushioning
4 3.0
padding
25 2.7
wadding
2 6.0
batting
  • Specialized
5 4.2
stuffing
1 2.1

Surface Forms

wadding singular
waddings plural

Morphology

wadding = wad (semi-transparent) = wad + ing

The word is transparently related to 'wad' as a material used for stuffing or padding, but the specific noun sense is somewhat lexicalized.

Etymology

The word wadding comes from the idea of a wad, which means a small 'bundle' or pad, like a 'wad' of paper you can hold in your hand. So wadding is soft stuffing used to fill, cushion, or protect things.