Bed \Bed\, n. [AS. bed, bedd; akin to OS. bed, D. bed, bedde, Icel. be?r, Dan. bed, Sw. b["a]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.

And made for him [a horse] a leafy bed. --Byron.

I wash, wring, brew, bake, . . . make the beds. --Shak.

In bed he slept not for my urging it. --Shak.

2. (Used as the symbol of matrimony) Marriage.

George, the eldest son of his second bed. --Clarendon.

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.

4. A mass or heap of anything arranged like a bed; as, a bed of ashes or coals.

5. The bottom of a watercourse, or of any body of water; as, the bed of a river.

So sinks the daystar in the ocean bed. --Milton.

6. (Geol.) A layer or seam, or a horizontal stratum between layers; as, a bed of coal, iron, etc.

7. (Gun.) See Gun carriage, and Mortar bed.

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.

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.

10. The superficial earthwork, or ballast, of a railroad.

Note: Bed is much used adjectively or in combination; as, bed key or bedkey; bed wrench or bedwrench; bedchamber; bedmaker, etc.

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.

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
 

Bed \Bed\, v. i. To go to bed; to cohabit.

If he be married, and bed with his wife. --Wiseman.

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
 

Bed \Bed\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Bedded; p. pr. & vb. n. Bedding.]

1. To place in a bed. [Obs.]

--Bacon.

2. To make partaker of one's bed; to cohabit with.

I'll to the Tuscan wars, and never bed her. --Shak.

3. To furnish with a bed or bedding.

4. To plant or arrange in beds; to set, or cover, as in a bed of soft earth; as, to bed the roots of a plant in mold.

5. To lay or put in any hollow place, or place of rest and security, surrounded or inclosed; to embed; to furnish with or place upon a bed or foundation; as, to bed a stone; it was bedded on a rock.

Among all chains or clusters of mountains where large bodies of still water are bedded. --Wordsworth.

6. (Masonry) To dress or prepare the surface of stone) so as to serve as a bed.

7. To lay flat; to lay in order; to place in a horizontal or recumbent position. ``Bedded hair.'' --Shak.

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)