1. A bed on board ship as distinguished from one ashore. nonce-use.
1615. Sandys, Trav., 27. To his house I repaired, with hope of some refreshment after my wearisome voyage: but he then from home, I was forced to returne to my water-bed.
2. A stratum through which water percolates.
1791. Smeaton, Edystone L., § 328. When sunk into, deep enough to pierce the water bed.
1886. A. Winchell, Walks Geol. Field, 32. There are districts where waterbeds may be traced for one or two miles.
3. A water-tight mattress partly filled with water, designed to serve as a bed for an invalid.
1853. Mrs. Gaskell, Ruth, vii. Water-beds coming by the carrier, and a doctor from London coming down to-morrow.
1862. Sala, Seven Sons, III. i. 5. Who so hale and strong but he may find the water-bed a luxury?
1899. Allbutt’s Syst. Med., VI. 720. The severest cases require a water-bed.
4. Anat. The cavity between the arachnoidea and pia mater containing cerebrospinal fluid, upon which the brain rests.
1899. Allbutt’s Syst. Med., VI. 435. In the circle of Willis, where the arteries lie on a yielding water-bed, the subarachnoid space. Ibid., VII. 536. A constant secretion of watery fluid into the ventricles is kept up, in order to maintain the water-bed on which the brain rests.
