Meaning & Definition
noun
Material used to fill or support something to make it softer or more comfortable.
The chair has thick padding to provide extra comfort during long hours of use.
Excess material added to text or data to improve formatting or alignment.
The document contained unnecessary padding that made it longer than required.
An allowance or extra space given in a calculation or measurement.
He included some padding in the budget to account for unexpected expenses.
verb
To fill or support something to make it softer or more comfortable.
She spent the afternoon padding the quilt with soft cotton.
To add unnecessary content or material to a text or data.
They padded the proposal with irrelevant information to meet the page requirement.
Etymology
From Middle English 'pad' meaning to stuff or fill.
Common Phrases and Expressions
padding the stats:
Adding unnecessary data to make figures look better.
padding out:
Adding extra material to reach a desired size or length.
run a bit of padding:
To add more content than necessary, often to create ease.
Slang Meanings
Excessive elaboration in a story or presentation.
The movie had a lot of padding, especially in the second act.
Unnecessary details added to a report.
The emails have so much padding, it's hard to find the real message.