Word Confusion: Blanket vs Comforter vs Quilt

Plural for the noun: blankets

Third person present verb: blankets
Past tense or past participle: blanketed
Present participle: blanketing

Plural: comforters

A.k.a. doona [Australian], duvet [British]

Plural for the noun: quilts
Gerund: quilting

Third person present verb: quilts
Past tense or past participle: quilted
Present participle: quilting

Noun, countable:
A large piece of woolen or similar material used as a bed covering or other covering for warmth

• A thick mass or layer of a specified material that covers something completely
• Any extended covering or layer
• A similar piece of fabric used as a covering for a horse, dog, etc.

[Usually singular] A general mood

The chief garment traditionally worn by some American Indians

[Printing; Lithography; Bookbinding; off-set printing] The rubber-covered cylinder to which an inked impression is transferred from the plate for transfer directly to the paper

[Printing; Lithography; Bookbinding; letterpress printing] The resilient covering on the cylinder against which the paper is pressed in printing

A thick roll or strip of material for thermal insulation

[General Physics] A layer of a fertile substance placed round the core of a nuclear reactor as a reflector or absorber and often to breed new fissionable fuel

Applying to or covering a wide group or variety of people, conditions, situations, etc.

[Informal; born on the wrong side of the blanket] Illegitimate

Verb, transitive:
Cover completely with a thick layer of something

• To stifle or keep quiet (sound)
• To apply to generally and uniformly without exception
• [Sailing] To take wind from the sails of (another craft) by passing to windward

To obscure or obstruct

• To interfere with
• To overpower (usually followed by out)

To toss (someone) in a blanket, as in fraternity hazing

• [Australian English] Doona
• [British English] Continental quilt, duvet

A person or thing that provides consolation

• [Christianity; Comforter] The Holy Spirit
• A baby’s dummy

[Dated] A narrow, long, typically woolen neck scarf

• Anything quilted or resembling a quilt
• A knitted or fabric bedspread with decorative stitching
• A layer of padding used for insulation

A bedspread or counterpane, especially a thick one

[Obsolete] A mattress

Something that is quilted or resembles a quilt

Verb, intransitive:
To make a quilt ¹

To do quilted work

Verb, transitive:
Join together (layers of fabric or padding) with lines of stitching to form a warm bed covering or garment or for decorative effect ¹

To construct like a quilt

To pad or line with material and stitch ornamentally

[Australian English; informal; dated] Punch (someone) ²

He made a blanket proposal that covered most situations.

It was a blanket indictment.

Noun:
I slept on the ground covered by my blanket.

We’ll need a horse blanket for Blackie.

A blanket of gloom spread over the crowd when they realized their team would lose.

It was a dense gray blanket of cloud.

The ground was covered in a blanket of snow.

Indian blankets frequently reflected their cultural heritage and beliefs.

These blankets offer quick sheet release on coated stocks, even with heavy ink coverage.

Use a blanket that will absorb the sizing from the paper, and note that the woven felt will hold up much better than the pressed felt.

“The benefits of blanket insulation include a lower energy bill, year-round comfort by helping your home maintain a comfortable temperature, as well as noise reduction from outside and between the floors and different rooms” (Novotny).

“The blankets extract heat from the fusion reactor for electrical power generation, and also produce fuel (tritium) for nuclear fusion” (Blanket).

We’ll need blanket insurance against loss, injury, and theft.

That child was born on the wrong side of the blanket.

Verb, transitive:
The countryside was blanketed in snow.

I loved the wild flowers blanketing the hillside.

The double glazing blankets the noise a bit.

We protested the high telephone service charges that blanketed our region.

The Dewdrop blanketed the Scorpion and won the race.

It was the storm that blanketed out TV reception.

An electrical storm blanketed out the radio program.

The group blanketed Paulie with flails of socks weighted with padlocks and bars of soap.

I do love the light weight of a down comforter.

Jen, make up the bed with that blue comforter.

The nurse was a comforter of the sick.

“Goodbye, my own, my darling, my sweet little comforter! I will come to you soon — yes, I will certainly come to you” (Dostoyevsky).

“As Jesus taught His disciples about the Holy Spirit during their last night together in the Upper Room, He referred to the Holy Spirit as the ‘Comforter’ on four separate occasions” (John 14:16, 14:26, 15:26, and John 16:7).

Give Tommy his comforter!

“I took off my long woollen comforter and wound it around Yulka’s throat” (Cather).
I love the lightweight warmth of my eiderdown duvet.

She inherited a patchwork quilt from her grandmother.

I plan to make a baby quilt for my great-nephew.

“The group has distributed some 90,000 quilts since it’s founding 10 years ago” (Payne).

It was a beautiful white-on-white quilt with swirls, flowers, and vines that quilted it together.

The roof space should be insulated with a glass-fiber quilt at least 100 mm thick.

She had made a patchwork quilt jacket.

For the princess, they layered twenty quilts, one atop the other.

The neighborhood was a quilt of houses and parks.

Verb, intransitive:
George’s plaid jacket was quilted by his wife.

Maggie knows how to quilt.

Don’t bother Mom, she’s quilting.

Verb, transitive:
We quilted the covers with parallel lines of stitching.

I plan to quilt my skirt.

She used a wool batting to quilt her Baltimore Album quilt.

“Some of the more serious TikTok DIYers are even quilting patchwork hearts (which would fit right into a cottagecore setup)” (Silva).

More than one bloke I’ve seen Joe quilt good and proper.

1. Middle English from the Old French cuilte, from the Latin culcita meaning mattress, cushion.
2. Mid-19th century, perhaps a transferred use of the verb definition above with the association of quilting for protection.