cot
1 Americanabbreviation
noun
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a light portable bed, especially one of canvas on a folding frame.
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British. a child's crib.
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a light bedstead.
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Nautical. a hammocklike bed stiffened by a suspended frame.
noun
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a small house; cottage; hut.
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a small place of shelter.
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a sheath or protective covering, as for an injured finger or toe.
noun
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a child's boxlike bed, usually incorporating vertical bars
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a collapsible or portable bed
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a light bedstead
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nautical a hammock-like bed with a stiff frame
abbreviation
noun
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literary a small cottage
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Also called: cote.
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a small shelter, esp one for pigeons, sheep, etc
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( in combination )
dovecot
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another name for fingerstall
verb
Etymology
Origin of cot2
1625–35; < Hindi khāṭ < Prakrit khaṭṭā < Sanskrit khaṭvā; akin to Tamil kattil bedstead
Origin of cot3
before 900; Middle English, Old English cot (neuter; cf. cote 1); cognate with Old Norse kot hut; akin to cubby, cove 1
Explanation
A cot is a small, portable bed. You might sleep on a cot when you go camping. Some hotels offer cots for extra guests who stay in your room, and campers and soldiers on the move often use cots for sleeping. A cot's benefits include its light weight and ability to be folded into an easily carried size. In Britain, a cot is a baby bed or crib. Cot has a Hindi source, khat, "couch, bed, or hammock" from the Sanskrit khatva.
Vocabulary lists containing cot
English Words Derived from Hindi
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Spelling Practice, Unit 3
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Previously known as cot death, Sids is the sudden and unexplained death during sleep of an otherwise healthy baby aged up to 12 months.
From BBC ● May 5, 2026
Marfisee and her students walked through the surrounding neighborhood, went cot to cot in the women’s dorm and held two informational sessions in December and January to answer patients’ questions.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 3, 2026
The law caught him: “a slot open, a cot waiting” in jail.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 1, 2026
Melissa Ashcroft said her size 36M breasts made parts of her life difficult, distressing and painful – leaving her sometimes unable to even lift her newborn daughter out of her cot.
From BBC ● Dec. 5, 2025
After supper he strung up a mosquito net around his cot and fell asleep in his clothes.
From "Most Dangerous: Daniel Ellsberg and the Secret History of the Vietnam War" by Steve Sheinkin
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.