Hypertext Webster Gateway: "Mat"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Mat \Mat\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Matted}; p. pr. & vb. n.
{Matting}.]
1. To cover or lay with mats. --Evelyn.
2. To twist, twine, or felt together; to interweave into, or
like, a mat; to entangle.
And o'er his eyebrows hung his matted hair.
--Dryden.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Mat \Mat\, v. i.
To grow thick together; to become interwoven or felted
together like a mat.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Mat \Mat\, n. [Cf. {Matte}.]
A name given by coppersmiths to an alloy of copper, tin,
iron, etc., usually called white metal. [Written also
{matt}.]
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Mat \Mat\, a. [OF. See 4th {Mate}.]
Cast down; dejected; overthrown; slain. [Obs.]
When he saw them so piteous and so maat. --Chaucer.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Mat \Mat\, n. [AS. matt, meatt, fr. L. matta a mat made of
rushes.]
1. A fabric of sedge, rushes, flags, husks, straw, hemp, or
similar material, used for wiping and cleaning shoes at
the door, for covering the floor of a hall or room, and
for other purposes.
2. Any similar fabric for various uses, as for covering plant
houses, putting beneath dishes or lamps on a table,
securing rigging from friction, and the like.
3. Anything growing thickly, or closely interwoven, so as to
resemble a mat in form or texture; as, a mat of weeds; a
mat of hair.
4. An ornamental border made of paper, pasterboard, metal,
etc., put under the glass which covers a framed picture;
as, the mat of a daguerreotype.
{Mat grass}. (Bot.)
(a) A low, tufted, European grass ({Nardus stricta}).
(b) Same as {Matweed}.
{Mat rush} (Bot.), a kind of rush ({Scirpus lacustris}) used
in England for making mats.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
mat
adj : not reflecting light; not glossy; "flat wall paint"; "a
photograph with a matte finish" [syn: {flat}, {matt}, {matte},
{matted}]
n 1: a thick flat pad used as a floor covering
2: mounting consisting of a border or background for a picture
[syn: {matting}]
3: sports equipment consisting of a piece of thick padding on
the floor for gymnastic sports [syn: {gym mat}]
4: a master's degree in teaching [syn: {Master of Arts in
Teaching}, {MAT}]
5: the property of having little or no contrast; lacking
highlights or gloss [syn: {flatness}, {lusterlessness}, {lustrelessness},
{matt}, {matte}]
6: table linen for an individual place setting [syn: {place mat}]
v 1: twist together or entwine into a confusing mass; "The child
entangled the cord" [syn: {entangle}, {tangle}, {snarl}]
[ant: {disentangle}, {disentangle}]
2: change texture so as to become matted and felt-like; "The
fabric felted up after several washes" [syn: {felt}, {felt
up}, {mat up}]
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