BEDCLOTHES

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does bedclothes mean? 

• BEDCLOTHES (noun)
  The noun BEDCLOTHES has 1 sense:

1. coverings that are used on a bed

  Familiarity information: BEDCLOTHES used as a noun is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• BEDCLOTHES (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Coverings that are used on a bed

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

bed clothing; bedclothes; bedding

Hypernyms ("bedclothes" is a kind of...):

cloth covering (a covering made of cloth)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "bedclothes"):

bedroll (bedding rolled up for carrying)

bed cover; bed covering; bedcover; bedspread; counterpane; spread (decorative cover for a bed)

blanket; cover (bedding that keeps a person warm in bed)

mattress cover (bedclothes that provide a cover for a mattress)

comfort; comforter; puff; quilt (bedding made of two layers of cloth filled with stuffing and stitched together)

throw (bedclothes consisting of a lightweight cloth covering (an afghan or bedspread) that is casually thrown over something)

 Context examples 

Here his right hand came slowly and feebly from under the bedclothes, and with a purposeless uncertain grasp took hold of a stick which was loosely tied to the side of the bed.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

The bedclothes had not been turned down, but there was an indentation upon the counterpane which showed that some one had lain there.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Nothing: I covered my face with the bedclothes, and turned from her to the wall.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

Such was her fear of the man, that even though she were wide awake, if he moved under the bedclothes she could not repress the start and the quick reach for the gun.

(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)

I took a fresh hold on my bedclothes and was preparing to start on, when some movement caught my eye and I looked astern to the rail.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

A poor, bare, miserable room it was, with broken windows, no fire, ragged bedclothes, a sick mother, wailing baby, and a group of pale, hungry children cuddled under one old quilt, trying to keep warm.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

But the hand which I now saw, clearly enough, in the yellow light of a mid-London morning, lying half shut on the bedclothes, was lean, corded, knuckly, of a dusky pallor and thickly shaded with a swart growth of hair.

(The Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

I hid my tears in the bedclothes, and pressed her from me with my hand, when she would have raised me up.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

Turning restlessly, she drew the bedclothes round her; my elbow, resting on a corner of the quilt, fixed it down: she was at once irritated.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

I renewed the fuel, re-arranged the bedclothes, gazed awhile on her who could not now gaze on me, and then I moved away to the window.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)