MAT1
/mat
/noun
A technology that uses chemicals (usually petrolatum, dimethicone, and polyquaternium) to reduce the ability of bacteria to adhere to the skin: the company is developing MAT-containing soaps
Origin
Abbreviation of microbial anti-attachment technology.
MAT2
/mat/abbreviation
Master of Arts in Teaching.
mat3
/mat
/noun
1A piece of coarse material placed on a floor for people to wipe their feet on.When he walks into the blackness of the entryway, he turns and wipes his feet onto the floor mat before pulling his shoes off....
- Walking through the doorway Kim carefully wiped her feet on the small mat at the door.
- As he came in stamping his muddy feet on the porch mat, she paused in the kitchen to listen.
1.1A small rug.Fifteen inch alloy wheels, air conditioning, a CD player and dedicated carpet mats are included....
- On the more popular routes old carpets and rubber mats eased the ankle-snapping trudge from one ice sheet to the next.
- Contemporary coverings like mats and rugs can change the whole appearance of our homes.
1.2A piece of thick or resilient material for lying on or for landing on in gymnastics, wrestling, or similar sports.She returns to the gymnastics mat, growing with every tumble into an Olympic champion....
- Wrestling mats are not cheap and it can cost a small fortune to equip your wrestling room.
- My opponent was running around the wrestling mat waving his arms in a celebratory gesture as he assumed the match was his.
2A small piece of cork, card, or fabric placed on a table or other surface to protect it from the heat or moisture of an object placed on it.He is clearing the cards, the chips, the checkered mat off the table, putting them neatly into a briefcase....
- In four years, there was just the one breakthrough: the cork mat.
- I looked at the living room we were sitting in, noticing that the main color was red and beige and even the eating table had red mats on it.
Synonyms
table mat, place mat;
coaster, beer mat, drip mat, doily
2.1 (also mouse mat) British A small piece of rigid or slightly resilient material on which a computer mouse is moved.While it does take a slight increase in effort to slide the mouse over the mat, accurate mousing is now much easier....
- It combines pre-programmed buttons and smart card technology to create a wired mouse mat that's more than just a pretty picture.
- A mouse mat made of glass seems to be asking for trouble.
3A thick, untidy layer of something hairy or woolly: his chest was covered by a thick mat of soft fair hair...
- I will need some moisture mats - thick layers of hemp fibre matting which sit on top of the waste.
- After the clear-cutting, the north slope germinated a thick mat of young Douglas fir and larch.
- They both had thick mats of curly blonde hair that had a tendency to get thick with dust and dirt, and they were both husky and cleverly ugly.
Synonyms
mass, tangle, knot, mop, thatch, shock, mane, cluster, mesh
verb (mats, matting, matted) [with object]
1Tangle (something, especially hair) in a thick mass: the fur on its flank was matted with blood...
- Her sandy hair was matted and tangled, but her eyes shone with crystal clear radiance.
- Her hair was all matted down and tangled, and I couldn't start to imagine her taking less than an hour to fix it.
- By now, the sun is up and angrily drying up your sweat, matting your hair and hardening your uniform.
Synonyms
tangle, entangle, knot, ravel, snarl up
1.1 [no object] Become tangled: dog hair mats more quickly than human hair...
- At night, protect your hair with a satin scarf, bonnet or pillowcase, which prevents split ends, tangling and matting, and preserves your hair style.
- This step can prevent your hair from thinning, matting or breaking.
- Daily brushing is almost mandatory to keep the hair from matting up.
Phrases
go to the mat
on the mat
Origin
Old English m(e)att(e), of West Germanic origin; related to Dutch mat and German Matte, from late Latin matta, from Phoenician.
Rhymes
mat4
/mat/noun
Short for matrix (sense 3).
mat5
noun
US spelling of matt.