Library / English Dictionary

MAT

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

Irregular inflected forms: matted    , matting   

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

A thick flat pad used as a floor covering

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("mat" is a kind of...):

floor cover; floor covering (a covering for a floor)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "mat"):

doormat; welcome mat (a mat placed outside an exterior door for wiping the shoes before entering)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Sports equipment consisting of a piece of thick padding on the floor for gymnastic sports

Synonyms:

gym mat; mat

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("mat" is a kind of...):

sports equipment (equipment needed to participate in a particular sport)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "mat"):

canvas; canvass (the mat that forms the floor of the ring in which boxers or professional wrestlers compete)

wrestling mat (a mat on which wrestling matches are conducted)

Sense 3

Meaning:

A small pad of material that is used to protect surface from an object placed on it

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("mat" is a kind of...):

pad (a flat mass of soft material used for protection, stuffing, or comfort)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "mat"):

drip mat (a small mat placed under a glass to protect a surface from condensation)

mouse mat; mousepad (a small portable pad that provides traction for the ball of a computer mouse)

place mat (a mat serving as table linen for an individual place setting)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Mounting consisting of a border or background for a picture

Synonyms:

mat; matting

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("mat" is a kind of...):

mounting (framework used for support or display)

Sense 5

Meaning:

A foundation (usually on soft ground) consisting of an extended layer of reinforced concrete

Synonyms:

mat; raft; raft foundation

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("mat" is a kind of...):

base; foot; foundation; fundament; groundwork; substructure; understructure (lowest support of a structure)

Sense 6

Meaning:

The property of having little or no contrast; lacking highlights or gloss

Synonyms:

flatness; lusterlessness; lustrelessness; mat; matt; matte

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Hypernyms ("mat" is a kind of...):

dullness (a lack of visual brightness)

Derivation:

mat (change texture so as to become matted and felt-like)

Sense 7

Meaning:

A master's degree in teaching

Synonyms:

Master of Arts in Teaching; MAT

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Hypernyms ("MAT" is a kind of...):

master's degree (an academic degree higher than a bachelor's degree but lower than a doctor's degree)

Sense 8

Meaning:

A mass that is densely tangled or interwoven

Example:

a mat of weeds and grass

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural objects (not man-made)

Hypernyms ("mat" is a kind of...):

mass (a body of matter without definite shape)

 II. (adjective) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Not reflecting light; not glossy

Example:

a photograph with a matte finish

Synonyms:

flat; mat; matt; matte; matted

Classified under:

Adjectives

Similar:

dull (emitting or reflecting very little light)

 III. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Change texture so as to become matted and felt-like

Example:

The fabric felted up after several washes

Synonyms:

felt; felt up; mat; mat up; matt-up; matte; matte up

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Hypernyms (to "mat" is one way to...):

change (undergo a change; become different in essence; losing one's or its original nature)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s

Derivation:

mat (the property of having little or no contrast; lacking highlights or gloss)

matting (a covering of coarse fabric (usually of straw or hemp))

Sense 2

Meaning:

Twist together or entwine into a confusing mass

Example:

The child entangled the cord

Synonyms:

entangle; mat; snarl; tangle

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Hypernyms (to "mat" is one way to...):

distort; twine; twist (form into a spiral shape)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "mat"):

felt (mat together and make felt-like)

enmesh; ensnarl; mesh (entangle or catch in (or as if in) a mesh)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Sentence example:

They mat their hair

Credits

 Context examples: 

There was no thick mat of fur to baffle White Fang's teeth as they were often baffled by dogs of his own breed.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

“I fully share your opinion, and I trust, with you, that we may prove it,” returned Holmes, going back to the mat to knock the snow from his shoes.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

His body was all matted with black hair, out of which jungle we picked the wandering tick before it had bitten him.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Miss Kate sketched and Frank talked to Beth, who was making little mats of braided rushes to serve as plates.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

My master had ordered a room to be made for me, after their manner, about six yards from the house: the sides and floors of which I plastered with clay, and covered with rush-mats of my own contriving.

(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)

The soldier made them all wipe their feet upon a green mat before entering this room, and when they were seated he said politely: Please make yourselves comfortable while I go to the door of the Throne Room and tell Oz you are here.

(The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum)

The donkey laid himself down upon a heap of straw in the yard, the dog stretched himself upon a mat behind the door, the cat rolled herself up on the hearth before the warm ashes, and the cock perched upon a beam on the top of the house; and, as they were all rather tired with their journey, they soon fell asleep.

(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)

The servant led us down a matted passage and showed us at the end into a great library, all lined with bookcases and busts upon the top of them, where the squire and Dr. Livesey sat, pipe in hand, on either side of a bright fire.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

The cellar, indeed, was filled with crazy lumber, mostly dating from the times of the surgeon who was Jekyll’s predecessor; but even as they opened the door they were advertised of the uselessness of further search, by the fall of a perfect mat of cobweb which had for years sealed up the entrance.

(The Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

But during an average day, parts of your skin may brush surfaces in stores, elevators, and restrooms; get nicked by a kitchen knife; be washed with rain; rest on a gym mat; and be slobbered on by a dog.

(Skin microbes fairly stable over time, NIH)