futons

Noun

futon (plural futons or futon)

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 tolerable mattress, although not springy, and rather apt to be damp and musty.1891, Eliza Scidmore, Jinrikisha Days in Japan, page 145
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 TIME, archived from the original on 30 Nov 2022