mat 1 
(măt)
(măt)n.
1. A flat piece of coarse fabric or other material used for wiping one's shoes or feet, or in various other forms as a floor covering.
2. A small flat piece of decorated material placed under a lamp, dish of food, or other object.
3. Sports A floor pad to protect athletes, as in wrestling or gymnastics.
4. A densely woven or thickly tangled mass: a mat of hair.
5. The solid part of a lace design.
6. A heavy woven net of rope or wire cable placed over a blasting site to keep debris from scattering.
v. mat·ted, mat·ting, mats
v.tr.
1. To cover, protect, or decorate with mats or a mat.
2. To pack or interweave into a thick mass: High winds matted the leaves against the base of the fence.
v.intr.
To be packed or interwoven into a thick mass; become entangled.
[Middle English matte, from Old English matta, meatte, from Late Latin matta, of Phoenician origin; see nṭy in the Appendix of Semitic roots.]