mattress

Everyday

1. A mattress is the large, thick, soft pad that you lie on in a bed. tree →
2. An air mattress is a plastic one you fill with air, for camping or for floating on water. tree →

In the lessons

In everyday life you sleep on a mattress; in science lessons a mattress is an example of a soft material and of springs. In safety lessons, mattresses must not be put near heaters, and babies should sleep on a firm mattress. Phrases: "a new mattress", "spring mattress", "air mattress", "under the mattress".

Examples

• My mattress is so soft I sink into it. tree →
• We blew up an air mattress for my cousin to sleep on. tree →
• The old mattress was too lumpy, so we bought a new one. tree →
• My little brother jumped on the mattress until Mum told him to stop. tree →
• In the story, the princess could feel a pea under twenty mattresses. tree →
• Inside the mattress there are hundreds of metal springs. tree →
• People used to hide money under the mattress. tree →
• Then she put twenty mattresses on top of the pea, and twenty eider-down quilts on the top of the mattresses. tree →

Note

Countable: a mattress, two mattresses (add -es). Spelled with double t and double s. The mattress is the soft part; the bed is the whole thing with its frame. "Mattress" also appears in fixed jokes like "hiding money under the mattress", which means keeping savings at home instead of a bank.