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mat1

Pronunciation: /mat/
Translate mat | into French | into German | into Italian | into Spanish
Definition of mat

noun

  • 1a piece of coarse material placed on a floor for people to wipe their feet on.
  • a small rug.
  • a piece of thick or resilient material for lying on or for landing on in gymnastics, wrestling, or similar sports.
  • 2a small piece of cork, card, or fabric placed on a table or other surface to protect it from the heat or moisture of an object placed on it.
  • (also mouse mat) British a small piece of rigid or slightly resilient material on which a computer mouse is moved.
  • 3a thick, untidy layer of something hairy or woolly:his chest was covered by a thick mat of soft fair hair

verb (mats, matting, matted)

[with object]
  • tangle (something, especially hair) in a thick mass:the fur on its flank was matted with blood
  • [no object] become tangled: dog hair mats more quickly than human hair

Phrases

go to the mat

informal vigorously engage in an argument, especially on behalf of another: we will go to the mat for those who are willing to help us out

on the mat

informal being reprimanded by someone in authority.
[with military reference to the orderly room mat, where an accused would stand before the commanding officer]

Origin:

Old English m(e)att(e), of West Germanic origin; related to Dutch mat and German Matte, from late Latin matta, from Phoenician

mat in other Oxford dictionaries

Definition of mat in the US English dictionary

Nearby words

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