futon

Noun

1. A thin mattress of tufted cotton or similar material, placed on a floor or on a raised, foldable frame as a bed.
   • The Japanese bed is the floor, with a wooden box under the neck for a pillow and a futon for a covering. To the foreigner the Japanese landlord allows five or six futons, or cotton-wadded comforters, and they make a...
   • The futon are easily aired, and may be carried about readily when moving. - 1904, Clarence Ludlow Brownell, The Heart of Japan: Glimpses of Life and Nature Far from the Travellers’ Track in the Land of the Rising Sun,...
   • Normally one or two futon are laid on tatami, several inches of straw matting recessed into the floor, providing a firm but extremely comfortable night’s rest. - 1981, The East, page 66:
2. A round cushion used for Zen meditation, traditionally made of woven bulrush leaves.
3. A specific kind of sofa-bed, with a fixed cushion that forms a mattress when folded down and a sofa when folded up.
   • I was 18 years old, sleeping on a futon, cooking on a George Foreman grill and showering at a friend's house every few days. - 2011 November 18, Ryan Allis, “From Dumpster Diving to Running a $50 Million Company”, in...