Mat, n. [AS. matt, meatt, fr. L. matta a mat made of rushes.] 1. A fabric of sedge, rushes, flags, husks, straw, hemp, or similar material, used for wiping and cleaning shoes at the door, for covering the floor of a hall or room, and for other purposes.
2. Any similar fabric for various uses, as for covering plant houses, putting beneath dishes or lamps on a table, securing rigging from friction, and the like.
3. Anything growing thickly, or closely interwoven, so as to resemble a mat in form or texture; as, a mat of weeds; a mat of hair.
4. An ornamental border made of paper, pasterboard, metal, etc., put under the glass which covers a framed picture; as, the mat of a daguerreotype.
Mat grass. (Bot.) (a) A low, tufted, European grass (Nardus stricta). (b) Same as Matweed. — Mat rush(Bot.), a kind of rush (Scirpus lacustris) used in England for making mats.