pad1

noun

• 1a thick piece of soft material, typically used to protect or shape something, or to absorb liquid:a pad of cotton wool
• a protective guard worn by a sports player to protect a part of the body: cricket pads

• 2the fleshy underpart of an animal’s foot or of a human finger: a dog’s pads will bleed profusely if cut

• 3a number of sheets of blank paper fastened together at one edge, used for writing or drawing: she sketched something on a big white pad

• 4a flat-topped structure or area used for helicopter take-off and landing or for rocket-launching: an office building with a helicopter pad

• 5 informal a person’s home:the police raided my pad

• 6 Electronics a flat area on a track of a printed circuit or on the edge of an integrated circuit to which wires or component leads can be attached to make an electrical connection.

verb (pads, padding, padded)

• 1 (often as adjective padded) fill or cover (something) with a soft material in order to protect or shape it or to make it more comfortable:a padded envelope

• 2 (pad something out) lengthen a speech or piece of writing with unnecessary material: don’t pad out your answer to make it seem impressive

• 3North American defraud by adding false items to (an expenses claim or bill): padded expenses for government work reaped billions of dollars for the Mafia

• 4 [no object] (pad up) put on protective pads in order to play a sport, especially cricket: at the age of 90, he still pads up ready to bat
• Cricket (of a batsman) deliberately use one’s pads to block a ball: Childs fooled the youngster into padding up to a ball which didn’t spin away