cushion someone's/something's fall

cushion | American Dictionary

cushion
noun[ C ]
us/ˈkʊʃ·ən/
a large, usually square bag filled with soft material, used as a movable part of a chair or sofa, for sitting on or resting your back against, or a similar but smaller bag used to make yourself more comfortable while sitting:
She sank back against the sofa cushions.
cushion
verb[ T ]
us/ˈkʊʃ·ən/
to soften or protect someone or something from the effects of a fall, moving too quickly into something, sitting or lying on a hard object, etc.:
The soft grass cushioned his fall (= made it hurt less).

cushion | Business English

cushion
verb[ T ]
uk /ˈkʊʃən/us
to make the effect or force of something less severe:
For two years subsidies have cushioned the impact of accelerating inflation.
cushion sb/sth against sthGovernments can use fiscal policy to cushion the economy against future recessions.
 cushion the blow
to make a bad situation less severe:
Earnings expectations are worsening, but interest rates are not expected to fall to cushion the blow.
cushion
noun[ Cusually singular ]
uk /ˈkʊʃən/us
something that makes the effects of a bad situation less severe:
You should aim to build up a cushion of three months' income in your savings account, for emergencies.

Examples of cushion

cushion
They have cushions that vary from short and squat, to more elongate and obovate.
In squatter cushions, the steep and narrow area surrounding the scar shows no ornamentation.
At some clubs, indeed, the dancers brought tapestry cushions embroidered with their names.
There are cushions made out of materials appropriate to the nature and technology theme and you can almost shut yourself in.
No specimen showed intimal cushions but little diffuse intimal thickening was present in 10 of 14 cases.
By adding to its rigidity it supports the closing mechanism by the endocardial cushions as long as valves have not yet developed.
Older staff facing structural and technological change in the workplace could bow out ' gracefully ', cushioned by lump sum payments and secure pensions.
However, these studies have been conducted on a variety of animal models, and without comparison between the two types of cushions.
A review of the literature has revealed differential gene expression between the atrio-ventricular and outflow tract cushions.
The majority result from the defective formation and fusion of endocardial cushions, leading to malformation of the septa and valves.
The cushions are mostly 12-14 mm wide but vary considerably in shape and length.
The area behind the range was filled with cushions, a post-prandial chill-out space.
During this meal he dined at a low round table of tinned copper, the sini, and sat on cushions on the floor.
Prominent lateral lines extend from scars in elongate cushions, but not in squatter cushions.
Lower angle acute in more elongate cushions, becoming obtuse in squatter cushions.
See all examples of cushion
These examples are from corpora and from sources on the web. Any opinions in the examples do not represent the opinion of the Cambridge Dictionary editors or of Cambridge University Press or its licensors.