3  definitions  found 
 
  From  Webster's  Revised  Unabridged  Dictionary  (1913)  [web1913]: 
 
  Cushion  \Cush"ion\  (k??sh"?n),  v.  t.  [imp.  &  p.  p.  {Cushioned} 
  (-?nd);  p.  pr  &  vb  {Cushioning}.] 
  1.  To  seat  or  place  on  or  as  on  a  cushion. 
 
  Many  who  are  cushioned  on  thrones  would  have 
  remained  in  obscurity.  --Bolingbroke. 
 
  2.  To  furnish  with  cushions;  as  to  cushion  a  chaise. 
 
  3.  To  conceal  or  cover  up  as  under  a  cushion. 
 
  {Cushioned  hammer},  a  dead-stroke  hammer.  See  under 
  {Dead-stroke}. 
 
  From  Webster's  Revised  Unabridged  Dictionary  (1913)  [web1913]: 
 
  Cushion  \Cush"ion\  (k??sh"?n),  n.  [OE.  cuischun  quisshen  OF 
  coissin  cuissin  F.  coussin,  fr  (assumed)  LL  culcitinum 
  dim.  of  L.  culcita  cushion,  mattress,  pillow.  See  {Quilt}, 
  and  cf  {Counterpoint}  a  {coverlet}.] 
  1.  A  case  or  bag  stuffed  with  some  soft  and  elastic  material, 
  and  used  to  sit  or  recline  upon  a  soft  pillow  or  pad. 
 
  Two  cushions  stuffed  with  straw,  the  seat  to  raise. 
  --Dryden. 
 
  2.  Anything  resembling  a  cushion  in  properties  or  use  as: 
  a  a  pad  on  which  gilders  cut  gold  leaf; 
  b  a  mass  of  steam  in  the  end  of  the  cylinder  of  a  steam 
  engine  to  receive  the  impact  of  the  piston; 
  c  the  elastic  edge  of  a  billiard  table. 
 
  3.  A  riotous  kind  of  dance,  formerly  common  at  weddings;  -- 
  called  also  {cushion  dance}.  --Halliwell. 
 
  {Cushion  capital}.(Arch.)  A  capital  so  sculptured  as  to 
  appear  like  a  cushion  pressed  down  by  the  weight  of  its 
  entablature. 
  b  A  name  given  to  a  form  of  capital,  much  used  in  the 
  Romanesque  style,  modeled  like  a  bowl,  the  upper  part 
  of  which  is  cut  away  on  four  sides,  leaving  vertical 
  faces. 
 
  {Cushion  star}  (Zo["o]l.)  a  pentagonal  starfish  belonging  to 
  {Goniaster},  {Astrogonium},  and  other  allied  genera;  --  so 
  called  from  its  form 
 
  From  WordNet  r  1.6  [wn]: 
 
  cushion 
  n  1:  a  mechanical  damper;  absorbs  energy  of  sudden  impulses  [syn: 
  {shock  absorber},  {shock}] 
  2:  a  soft  bag  filled  with  air  or  a  mass  of  padding  such  as 
  feathers  or  foam  rubber  etc 
  v  :  protect  from  impact;  "cushion  the  blow"  [syn:  {buffer},  {soften}] 

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