bed down

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.
   • The herd will tend to stay where the calves bed down.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...
   • Through the woods, and frosted moors
     Past the snow-caked hedgerows I
     Bed down upon the drifting snow
     Sleep beneath the melting sky.2004, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Spell
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. (ambitransitive, figuratively) To make or become permanent, fixed or wedded to a particular setup, way of thinking, style or manner.
   • A habit can easily become bedded down.
   • The new batch of employees soon bedded down.