cushioning

from WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006)

cushioning
    n 1: artifact consisting of soft or resilient material used to
         fill or give shape or protect or add comfort [syn:
         {padding}, {cushioning}]

from The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48

cushioning \cushioning\ n.
   soft or resilient material used to fill or give shape or
   protect or add comfort.

   Syn: padding.
        [WordNet 1.5]

from The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48

Cushion \Cush"ion\ (k[oo^]sh"[u^]n), v. t. [imp. & p. p.
   {Cushioned} (-[u^]nd); p. pr. & vb. n. {Cushioning}.]
   1. To seat or place on, or as on a cushion.
      [1913 Webster]

            Many who are cushioned on thrones would have
            remained in obscurity.                --Bolingbroke.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. To furnish with cushions; as, to cushion a chaise.
      [1913 Webster]

   3. To conceal or cover up, as under a cushion.
      [1913 Webster]

   {Cushioned hammer}, a dead-stroke hammer. See under
      {Dead-stroke}.
      [1913 Webster]

from Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0

26 Moby Thesaurus words for "cushioning":
      abating, allaying, alleviating, assuaging, blunting, chastening,
      dampening, damping, deadening, diminishing, dulling, easing,
      laxation, lessening, mellowing, mitigating, mollification,
      mollifying, padding, reducing, relaxation, relaxing, softening,
      softening-up, subduing, tempering