Mat \Mat\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Matted; p. pr. & vb. n.
   Matting.]
   1. To cover or lay with mats. --Evelyn.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. To twist, twine, or felt together; to interweave into, or
      like, a mat; to entangle.
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            And o'er his eyebrows hung his matted hair.
                                                  --Dryden.
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	Mat \Mat\ (m[a^]t), n. [Cf. Matte.]
   A name given by coppersmiths to an alloy of copper, tin,
   iron, etc., usually called white metal. [Written also
   matt.]
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	Mat \Mat\, a. [OF. See 4th Mate.]
   Cast down; dejected; overthrown; slain. [Obs.]
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         When he saw them so piteous and so maat. --Chaucer.
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	Mat \Mat\, v. i.
   To grow thick together; to become interwoven or felted
   together like a mat, as hair when wetted with a sticky
   substance; as, a long-haired cat whose fur is matted.
   [1913 Webster +PJC] Matabele

	

	Mat \Mat\, n. [AS. matt, meatt, fr. L. matta a mat made of
   rushes.]
   1. A thick flat fabric of sedge, rushes, flags, husks, straw,
      hemp, or similar material, placed on the floor and used
      for wiping and cleaning shoes at the door, for covering
      the floor of a hall or room to protect its surface, and
      for other purposes.
      [1913 Webster +PJC]

   2. Any similar flat object made of fabric or other material,
      such as rubber or plastic, placed flat on a surface for
      various uses, as for covering plant houses, putting
      beneath dishes or lamps on a table, securing rigging from
      friction, and the like.
      [1913 Webster +PJC]

   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.
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   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.
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   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.
      [1913 Webster]

	

	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]
     5: the property of having little or no contrast; lacking
        highlights or gloss [syn: flatness, lusterlessness, lustrelessness,
         matt, matte]
     6: a small pad of material that is used to protect surface from
        an object placed on it
     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, matt-up, matte up, matte]
     [also: matting, matted]

	

	214 Moby Thesaurus words for "mat":
   achromatic, achromic, agora, air mattress, amphitheater, anemic,
   arena, ashen, ashy, athletic field, auditorium, background,
   barrier, bear garden, bedding, bled white, blind, bloodless,
   bolster, bowl, boxing ring, braid, brattice, buffer, buffer state,
   bulkhead, bull ring, bumper, cadaverous, campus, canvas, carpet,
   carpeting, chloranemic, circus, cloison, cockpit, coliseum,
   collision mat, colorless, colosseum, course, crop, cushion, dead,
   deaden, deadened, deadly pale, deathly pale, diaphragm, dim,
   dimmed, dingy, discolored, dissepiment, dividing line,
   dividing wall, division, doormat, drab, drop cloth, duckboards,
   dull, enlace, entwine, etiolated, exsanguinated, exsanguine,
   exsanguineous, faded, faint, fallow, fender, field, flat, fleece,
   floor, floorboards, flooring, forum, ghastly, gray, ground,
   ground cloth, ground-sheet, gym, gymnasium, haggard, hall, head,
   head of hair, hippodrome, hueless, hypochromic,
   innerspring mattress, interknit, interlace, interseptum, intertie,
   intertissue, intertwine, intertwist, interweave, intort, knit,
   lace, lackluster, leaden, lifeless, lists, locale, locks, loom,
   loop, lurid, lusterless, mane, marketplace, mattress, mealy,
   midriff, midsection, milieu, mop, muddy, muted, net, neutral,
   noose, open forum, pad, palaestra, pale, pale as death, pale-faced,
   pallet, pallid, panel, parade ground, paries, partition,
   party wall, pasty, pave, pavement, pillow, pit, place, plait,
   platform, pleach, precinct, prize ring, property line,
   public square, purlieu, raddle, range, ring, rug, sallow, scene,
   scene of action, scenery, separation, septulum, septum, setting,
   shag, shock, shock pad, sickly, site, sleeping bag, somber, sphere,
   splice, springs, squared circle, stadium, stage, stage set,
   stage setting, tallow-faced, terrain, thatch, theater, tiling,
   tilting ground, tiltyard, tissue, tone down, toneless, tresses,
   twill, twine, twist, uncolored, underbed, underbedding, walk, wall,
   wan, washed-out, wattle, waxen, weak, weave, web, welcome mat,
   whey-faced, white, wreathe, wrestling ring