cushion

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
cushion/ˈkʊʃn/

▶noun

• 1 a bag of cloth stuffed with a mass of soft material, used as a comfortable support for sitting or leaning on.

• 2 something providing support or protection against impact.

  ■ 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 mitigate the adverse effects of: to cushion the blow, wages were increased.

– derivatives
cushioned adjective,
cushiony adjective.

– origin ME: from OFr. cuissin, based on a L. word meaning ‘cushion for the hip’, from coxa ‘hip, thigh’.