[1] : WordNet (r) 2.0

featherbed
     n : a mattress stuffed with feathers syn: feather bed
     v 1: treat with excessive indulgence; "grandparents often pamper
          the children"; "let's not mollycoddle our students"
          syn: pamper, cosset, cocker, baby, coddle, mollycoddle,
           spoil, indulge
     2: hire more workers than are necessary
     also: featherbedding, featherbedded
see also:
feather bed pamper cosset cocker baby coddle 
mollycoddle spoil indulge featherbedding featherbedded 

[2] : WordNet (r) 2.0

featherbedding
     n : the practice usually by a labor union of requiring an
         employer to hire more workers than are required

[3] : WordNet (r) 2.0

featherbedding
     see featherbed
see also:
featherbed 

[4] : Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0

28 moby thesaurus words for "featherbedding":
   bedizenment, duplication, duplication of effort, embellishment,
   expletive, extravagance, fat, filling, frill, frills, frippery,
   gingerbread, luxury, needlessness, ornamentation, overadornment,
   overlap, padding, payroll padding, pleonasm, prolixity, redundance,
   redundancy, superfluity, superfluousness, tautology,
   unnecessariness, verbosity

Featherbedding >> F Words
Featherbedding, definition of term: Featherbedding
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