bed

Universal Words noun, verb noun furniture 1 [C,U] a piece of furniture for sleeping on: a single / double bed * She lay on the bed (= on top of the covers). * He lay in bed (= under the covers). * I'm tired-I'm going to bed. * It's time for bed (= time to go to sleep). * I'll just put the kids to bed. * He likes to have a mug of cocoa before bed (= before going to bed). * to get into / out of bed * to make the bed (= arrange the covers in a tidy way) * Could you give me a bed for the night (= somewhere to sleep)? * There's a shortage of hospital beds (= not enough room for patients to be admitted). * He has been confined to bed with flu for the past couple of days. seealsoAIRBED, CAMPBED, SOFABED, TWINBED, WATERBED of river / lake / sea 2 [C] the bottom of a river, the sea, etc: the ocean bed * oyster beds (= an area in the sea where there are many OYSTERS) for flowers / vegetables 3 [C] an area of ground in a garden/yard or park for growing flowers, vegetables, etc: flower beds seealsoSEEDBED bottom layer 4 [C] ~ (of sth) a layer of sth that other things lie or rest on: grilled chicken, served on a bed of rice * The blocks should be laid on a bed of concrete. geology 5 [C] a layer of clay, rock, etc. in the ground seealsoBEDROCK IDIOMS (not) a bed of roses (not) an easy or a pleasant situation: Their life together hasn't exactly been a bed of roses. get out of bed on the wrong side (BrE) (AmE get up on the wrong side of the bed) to be bad-tempered for the whole day for no particular reason go to bed with sb (informal) to have sex with sb in bed used to refer to sexual activity: What's he like in bed? * I caught them in bed together (= having sex). you've made your bed and you must lie on it (saying) you must accept the results of your actions take to your bed to go to bed and stay there because you are ill/sick moreatDIEv., WETv. verb (-dd-) [VN] 1 ~ sth (in sth) to fix sth firmly in sth: The bricks were bedded in sand to improve drainage. * Make sure that you bed the roots firmly in the soil. 2 (old-fashioned) to have sex with sb: He's been trying to bed her for weeks. PHRASALVERBS bed down to sleep in a place where you do not usually sleep: You have my room and I'll bed down in the living room.