bed down

verb beds down · bedding down · bedded down

1. intransitive To lie down to sleep for the night, usually of livestock or machinery, or of people when sleeping somewhere worse than normal, often camping or in prison. 2006, Temple Grandin, Jennifer Lanier and Mark Deesing, Low Stress Methods for Moving and Herding Cattle on Pastures, Paddocks and Large Feedlot Pens, Department of Animal Sciences, Colorado State University The herd will tend to stay where the calves bed down.
2. transitive To put an animal to rest for the night. We'll bed down the cattle and head into town.
3. transitive To sleep with or sleep alongside (a person or pet). Who has she been bedding down with?
4. ambitransitive, figuratively To make or become permanent, fixed or wedded to a particular setup, way of thinking, style or manner. A habit can easily become bedded down.