From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishmattressmat‧tress /ˈmætrɪs/ ●●○ noun [countable] DHFthe soft part of a bed that you lie onfirm/soft/hard etc mattress an old, lumpy mattress
Examples from the Corpus
mattress• I am opposed to air mattresses at a rendezvous, personally.• Sheets and mattress protectors are also available, if you have problems during the night.• It's important to have a good firm mattress.• Then we barricaded ourselves in, piled our mattresses against the cell door.• Shown here is the Regal Supreme, supplied complete with a pocket-sprung mattress to bring modern comfort to antique furniture.• Not surprisingly they're the most expensive too and the only type suitable to use with a pocket-sprung mattress.• We half sat, half lay on the mattress.• We sat on the mattress because that was all the furniture I had.firm/soft/hard etc mattress• They can still sleep in comfort because one half of the bed has a hard mattress, the other soft.• Anyone who has difficulty in getting down to the floor and up is safer exercising on a firm mattress.• Sleep on a firm mattress - or, better still, a plank under the mattress.• She was not an angel capable of mutating into a writhing, biting snake on a soft mattress.• That, too, depends on individual choice, though medical opinion usually favours the hard mattress.Origin mattress (1200-1300) Old French materas, from Arabic matrah “place where something is thrown” 