Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A mat placed before a doorway for wiping the shoes.
  • noun Slang One who submits meekly to domination or mistreatment by others.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A heavy mat made of hemp, flax, or jute, woven or tied, or of sedge, straw, rushes, etc., or sometimes of caoutchouc, placed before a door for use in cleaning the shoes by those entering.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun a mat placed outside and exterior door for wiping the shoes before entering.
  • noun A person who is habitually abused, taken advantage of or humiliated; sometimes, one who is physically weak.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A coarse mat at the entrance to a house, upon which one wipes one's shoes.
  • noun figuratively Someone who is overly submissive to others' wishes.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a mat placed outside an exterior door for wiping the shoes before entering
  • noun a person who is physically weak and ineffectual

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From door + mat

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