What it means
تشک (toshak) means “mattress,” the padded layer you sleep on, whether it sits on a bed frame or directly on the floor. It refers only to the mattress itself, not the bed: the wooden or metal frame is تخت (takht), and the whole bed is تختخواب (takhtekhâb). So you can have a تشک without a تخت, which is exactly how sleeping works in many traditional homes.
How to use it
- تشک خیلی نرمه (toshak kheyli narme) “the mattress is very soft”
- تشک رو پهن کن بخوابیم (toshak ro pahn kon bekhâbim) “lay out the mattress so we can sleep”
- این تشک کمرمو درد میاره (in toshak kamaramo dard miyâre) “this mattress makes my back hurt”
- یه تشک نو خریدیم (ye toshak-e no kharidim) “we bought a new mattress”
Cultural note
In many Iranian homes, especially traditional ones, the تشک is a thin floor mattress that is spread out at night and folded away into the closet during the day as part of the رختخواب (the bedding set). This keeps a room flexible, so the same space can be a living room by day and a bedroom by night. Western-style beds with a fixed تشک on a frame are common in cities now, but the foldaway floor mattress is still very familiar, especially when guests stay over.