bed down

English

Verb

bed down (third-person singular simple present beds down, present participle bedding down, simple past and past participle bedded down)

1. (intransitive) To lie down to sleep for the night, usually of livestock or machinery, or of people when sleeping somewhere worse than normal, often camping or in prison.
   • 2006, Temple Grandin, Jennifer Lanier and Mark Deesing, Low Stress Methods for Moving and Herding Cattle on Pastures, Paddocks and Large Feedlot Pens, Department of Animal Sciences, Colorado State University

     The herd will tend to stay where the calves bed down.

   • 2004, Nick Cave, Spell:

     Through the woods, and frosted moors
     Past the snow-caked hedgerows I
     Bed down upon the drifting snow
     Sleep beneath the melting sky.

   The horses will bed down once they get in the stable.

   The tent was an uncomfortable place to bed down.

2. (transitive) To put an animal to rest for the night.

   We'll bed down the cattle and head into town.

3. (transitive) To sleep with or sleep alongside (a person or pet).

   Who has she been bedding down with?

4. (figurative) To become permanent, fixed or embedded to a particular setup, way of thinking, style or manner.

   A habit can easily become bedded down.