Bed \Bed\, n. [AS. bed, bedd; akin to OS. bed, D. bed, bedde,
   Icel. be?r, Dan. bed, Sw. b[aum]dd, Goth. badi, OHG. betti,
   G. bett, bette, bed, beet a plat of ground; all of uncertain
   origin.]
   1. An article of furniture to sleep or take rest in or on; a
      couch. Specifically: A sack or mattress, filled with some
      soft material, in distinction from the bedstead on which
      it is placed (as, a feather bed), or this with the
      bedclothes added. In a general sense, any thing or place
      used for sleeping or reclining on or in, as a quantity of
      hay, straw, leaves, or twigs.
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            And made for him [a horse] a leafy bed. --Byron.
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            I wash, wring, brew, bake, . . . make the beds.
                                                  --Shak.
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            In bed he slept not for my urging it. --Shak.
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   2. (Used as the symbol of matrimony) Marriage.
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            George, the eldest son of his second bed.
                                                  --Clarendon.
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   3. A plat or level piece of ground in a garden, usually a
      little raised above the adjoining ground. "Beds of
      hyacinth and roses." --Milton.
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   4. A mass or heap of anything arranged like a bed; as, a bed
      of ashes or coals.
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   5. The bottom of a watercourse, or of any body of water; as,
      the bed of a river.
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            So sinks the daystar in the ocean bed. --Milton.
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   6. (Geol.) A layer or seam, or a horizontal stratum between
      layers; as, a bed of coal, iron, etc.
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   7. (Gun.) See Gun carriage, and Mortar bed.
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   8. (Masonry)
      (a) The horizontal surface of a building stone; as, the
          upper and lower beds.
      (b) A course of stone or brick in a wall.
      (c) The place or material in which a block or brick is
          laid.
      (d) The lower surface of a brick, slate, or tile.
          --Knight.
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   9. (Mech.) The foundation or the more solid and fixed part or
      framing of a machine; or a part on which something is laid
      or supported; as, the bed of an engine.
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   10. The superficial earthwork, or ballast, of a railroad.
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   11. (Printing) The flat part of the press, on which the form
       is laid.
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   Note: Bed is much used adjectively or in combination; as, bed
         key or bedkey; bed wrench or bedwrench; bedchamber;
         bedmaker, etc.
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   Bed of justice (French Hist.), the throne (F. lit bed)
      occupied by the king when sitting in one of his
      parliaments (judicial courts); hence, a session of a
      refractory parliament, at which the king was present for
      the purpose of causing his decrees to be registered.

   To be brought to bed, to be delivered of a child; -- often
      followed by of; as, to be brought to bed of a son.

   To make a bed, to prepare a bed; to arrange or put in order
      a bed and its bedding.

   From bed and board (Law), a phrase applied to a separation
      by partial divorce of man and wife, without dissolving the
      bonds of matrimony. If such a divorce (now commonly called
      a judicial separation) be granted at the instance of the
      wife, she may have alimony.
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