feath·er·bed·ding

(fĕth′ər-bĕd′ĭng)

1. The hiring of more workers than necessary or the limiting of worker productivity in order to allow employment of more persons, usually as a result of a union contract with an employer.

2. The paying for services that are not actually performed, as in a union-imposed fee upon an employer.

feath′er·bed′ v. & adj.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

featherbed

Past participle: featherbedded
Gerund: featherbedding

Imperative
featherbed
featherbed

Present
I featherbed
you featherbed
he/she/it featherbeds
we featherbed
you featherbed
they featherbed

Preterite
I featherbedded
you featherbedded
he/she/it featherbedded
we featherbedded
you featherbedded
they featherbedded

Present Continuous
I am featherbedding
you are featherbedding
he/she/it is featherbedding
we are featherbedding
you are featherbedding
they are featherbedding

Present Perfect
I have featherbedded
you have featherbedded
he/she/it has featherbedded
we have featherbedded
you have featherbedded
they have featherbedded

Past Continuous
I was featherbedding
you were featherbedding
he/she/it was featherbedding
we were featherbedding
you were featherbedding
they were featherbedding

Past Perfect
I had featherbedded
you had featherbedded
he/she/it had featherbedded
we had featherbedded
you had featherbedded
they had featherbedded

Future
I will featherbed
you will featherbed
he/she/it will featherbed
we will featherbed
you will featherbed
they will featherbed

Future Perfect
I will have featherbedded
you will have featherbedded
he/she/it will have featherbedded
we will have featherbedded
you will have featherbedded
they will have featherbedded

Future Continuous
I will be featherbedding
you will be featherbedding
he/she/it will be featherbedding
we will be featherbedding
you will be featherbedding
they will be featherbedding

Present Perfect Continuous
I have been featherbedding
you have been featherbedding
he/she/it has been featherbedding
we have been featherbedding
you have been featherbedding
they have been featherbedding

Future Perfect Continuous
I will have been featherbedding
you will have been featherbedding
he/she/it will have been featherbedding
we will have been featherbedding
you will have been featherbedding
they will have been featherbedding

Past Perfect Continuous
I had been featherbedding
you had been featherbedding
he/she/it had been featherbedding
we had been featherbedding
you had been featherbedding
they had been featherbedding

Conditional
I would featherbed
you would featherbed
he/she/it would featherbed
we would featherbed
you would featherbed
they would featherbed

Past Conditional
I would have featherbedded
you would have featherbedded
he/she/it would have featherbedded
we would have featherbedded
you would have featherbedded
they would have featherbedded

Collins English Verb Tables © HarperCollins Publishers 2011

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Noun	1.	featherbed - a mattress stuffed with feathers feather bed mattress - a large thick pad filled with resilient material and often incorporating coiled springs, used as a bed or part of a bed
Verb	1.	featherbed - treat with excessive indulgence; "grandparents often pamper the children"; "Let's not mollycoddle our students!" baby, cocker, coddle, cosset, mollycoddle, pamper, spoil, indulge do by, treat, handle - interact in a certain way; "Do right by her"; "Treat him with caution, please"; "Handle the press reporters gently"
	2.	featherbed - hire more workers than are necessary hire, employ, engage - engage or hire for work; "They hired two new secretaries in the department"; "How many people has she employed?"

Mentioned in

References in classic literature

One does not yearn for "just another five minutes" nearly so much, lying wrapped up in a rug on the boards of a boat, with a Gladstone bag for a pillow, as one does in a featherbed. We had finished breakfast, and were through Clifton Lock by half-past eight.

View in context

'Rough!' cried Miss La Creevy, 'a porcupine's a featherbed to him!

View in context

Sedley to her husband; and that night in a conversation which took place in a front room in the second floor, in a sort of tent, hung round with chintz of a rich and fantastic India pattern, and double with calico of a tender rose-colour; in the interior of which species of marquee was a featherbed, on which were two pillows, on which were two round red faces, one in a laced nightcap, and one in a simple cotton one, ending in a tassel--in a CURTAIN LECTURE, I say, Mrs.

View in context

The snow did not fall this time, it simply spilled out of heaven, like thousands of featherbeds being emptied.

View in context

By the side of the path, on the dusty dry grass, all sorts of household goods lay in a heap: featherbeds, a samovar, icons, and trunks.

View in context

She caught endless colds sitting on damp grass to book `delicious bit', composed of a stone, a stump, one mushroom, and a broken mullein stalk, or `a heavenly mass of clouds', that looked like a choice display of featherbeds when done.

View in context

Ring, 48, of Featherbed Lane, Shrewsbury, and Vesayaporn, 38, of Wayford View, Dorrington, were both found guilty of being concerned in the supply of drugs at Shrewsbury Crown Court and will be sentenced together at a later date.

Trio guilty of County Lines drug dealing

The sense of entitlement of Tories lecturing others to tighten their belts is nauseating when the working poor were forced to featherbed a couple of chaps on the make.

By George what nerve; VOICE OF THE

Born in 1937 into a large family in the "Featherbed" section near South Colton, on the northern outskirts of the Adirondack Park, Bill Smith is a teller of tales, a singer of songs, and a maker of traditional Adirondack pack baskets.

Bill Smith

The Featherbed Lane recreation ground's pavilion was broken into and dozens of holes were dug in a football pitch and the children's play area.

Rec ground is vandalised

In the past week about 60 holes have been dug at Whinfield Recreational Ground and 40 at Featherbed Lane Recreation Ground in Rugby.

Treasure hunter hunted over 100 holes