cushion
• noun 1 a bag of cloth stuffed with a mass of soft material, used as a comfortable support for sitting or leaning on. 2 a source of support or protection against impact. 3 the elastic lining of the sides of a billiard table, from which the ball rebounds. • verb 1 soften the effect of an impact on. 2 lessen the adverse effects of. — ORIGIN Old French cuissin, from a Latin word meaning ‘cushion for the hip’, from coxa ‘hip, thigh’.
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