Meaning & use
airbed
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Meaning
nouncountableBritish
A mattress made of rubber or plastic that you fill with air and use for sleeping, especially when camping or for guests.
Grammar: Countable: one airbed, two airbeds. In American English, 'air mattress' is more common.
Patterns
- sleep on an airbed
- inflate an airbed
- an airbed for guests
We put an airbed in the living room for my cousin to sleep on.
The airbed deflated during the night, so I woke up on the floor.
Don't forget to pack the airbed and the pump for the camping trip.
Word forms
| plural | airbeds |
|---|
Common combinations
- inflate an airbed
- It took ten minutes to inflate the airbed with the foot pump.
- sleep on an airbed
- The children had to sleep on an airbed when the relatives visited.
- airbed pump
- We forgot the airbed pump, so we couldn't blow it up.
- deflate an airbed
- After the guests left, we deflated the airbed and put it away.
Synonyms and how they differ
- air mattress
- The usual American term; 'airbed' is the common British term. They mean the same thing.
- lilo
- A British trademark for a similar inflatable mattress used in water; an airbed is for sleeping on land, not in a pool.
Commonly confused: airbed or airbag? airbed or air mattress?
airbed vs airbag
An airbag is a safety device in a car that fills with air in a crash. An airbed is for sleeping.
airbed vs air mattress
Same meaning, but 'air mattress' is the preferred term in American English, while 'airbed' is more common in British English.
Practice
When we go camping, I usually sleep on an ______ in the tent.
Choose one answer.
An 'airbed' is an inflatable mattress for sleeping. An 'airbag' is a car safety device, an 'airway' is a passage for air, and an 'airlock' is a sealed chamber, so none of those make sense for sleeping in a tent.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “airbed”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.