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Couch - 11 dictionary results
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couch

  [kouch or, for 6, 14, kooch]
Use Couch in a Sentence
–noun
1. a piece of furniture for seating from two to four people, typically in the form of a bench with a back, sometimes having an armrest at one or each end, and partly or wholly upholstered and often fitted with springs, tailored cushions, skirts, etc.; sofa.
2. a similar article of furniture, with a headrest at one end, on which some patients of psychiatrists or psychoanalysts lie while undergoing treatment.
3. a bed or other place of rest; a lounge; any place used for repose.
4. the lair of a wild beast.
5. Brewing. the frame on which barley is spread to be malted.
6. Papermaking. the board or felt blanket on which wet pulp is laid for drying into paper sheets.
7. Fine Arts. a primer coat or layer, as of paint.
–verb (used with object)
8. to arrange or frame (words, a sentence, etc.); put into words; express: a simple request couched in respectful language.
9. to express indirectly or obscurely: the threat couched under his polite speech.
10. to lower or bend down, as the head.
11. to lower (a spear, lance, etc.) to a horizontal position, as for attack.
12. to put or lay down, as for rest or sleep; cause to lie down.
13. to lay or spread flat.
14. Papermaking. to transfer (a sheet of pulp) from the wire to the couch.
15. to embroider by couching.
16. Archaic. to hide; conceal.
–verb (used without object)
17. to lie at rest or asleep; repose; recline.
18. to crouch; bend; stoop.
19. to lie in ambush or in hiding; lurk.
20. to lie in a heap for decomposition or fermentation, as leaves.
—Idiom
21. on the couch, Informal. undergoing psychiatric or psychoanalytic treatment.
Origin:
1300–50; (n.) ME couche < AF, OF, deriv. of coucher; (v.) ME couchen < AF, OF coucher, OF colcher < L collocāre to put into place, equiv. to col- col- + locāre to put, place; see locate
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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couch   (kouch)   
n.  
    1. A sofa.
    2. A sofa on which a patient lies while undergoing psychoanalysis or psychiatric treatment.
    3. The frame or floor on which grain, usually barley, is spread in malting.
    4. A layer of grain, usually barley, spread to germinate.
    1. The frame or floor on which grain, usually barley, is spread in malting.
    2. A layer of grain, usually barley, spread to germinate.
  3. A priming coat of paint or varnish used in artistic painting.
v.   couched, couch·ing, couch·es

v.   tr.
  1. To word in a certain manner; phrase: couched their protests in diplomatic language.
  2. To cause (oneself) to lie down, as for rest.
  3. To embroider by laying thread flat on a surface and fastening it by stitches at regular intervals.
  4. To spread (grain) on a couch to germinate, as in malting.
  5. To lower (a spear, for example) to horizontal position, as for an attack.
v.   intr.
  1. To lie down; recline, as for rest.
  2. To lie in ambush or concealment; lurk.
  3. To be in a heap or pile, as leaves for decomposition or fermentation.

[Middle English couche, from Old French culche, couche, from couchier, to lay down, lie down, from Latin collocāre; see collocate.]
couch'er n.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Couch

Couch\ (kouch), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Couched (koucht); p. pr. & vb. n. Couching.] [F. coucher to lay down, lie down, OF. colchier, fr. L. collocare to lay, put, place; col- + locare to place, fr. locus place. See Locus.]

1. To lay upon a bed or other resting place.

Where unbruised youth, with unstuffed brain, Does couch his limbs, there golden sleep doth reign. --Shak.

2. To arrange or dispose as in a bed; -- sometimes followed by the reflexive pronoun.

The waters couch themselves as may be to the center of this globe, in a spherical convexity. --T. Burnet.

3. To lay or deposit in a bed or layer; to bed.

It is at this day in use at Gaza, to couch potsherds, or vessels of earth, in their walls. --Bacon.

4. (Paper Making) To transfer (as sheets of partly dried pulp) from the wire cloth mold to a felt blanket, for further drying.

5. To conceal; to include or involve darkly.

There is all this, and more, that lies naturally couched under this allegory. --L'Estrange.

6. To arrange; to place; to inlay. [Obs.] --Chaucer.

7. To put into some form of language; to express; to phrase; -- used with in and under.

A well-couched invective. --Milton.

I had received a letter from Flora couched in rather cool terms. --Blackw. Mag.

8. (Med.) To treat by pushing down or displacing the opaque lens with a needle; as, to couch a cataract.

To couch a spear or lance, to lower to the position of attack; to place in rest.

He stooped his head, and couched his spear, And spurred his steed to full career. --Sir W. Scott.

To couch malt, to spread malt on a floor. --Mortimer.

Couch

Couch\, v. i. 1. To lie down or recline, as on a bed or other place of rest; to repose; to lie.

Where souls do couch on flowers, we 'll hand in hand. --Shak.

If I court moe women, you 'll couch with moe men. --Shak.

2. To lie down for concealment; to hide; to be concealed; to be included or involved darkly.

We 'll couch in the castle ditch, till we see the light of our fairies. --Shak.

The half-hidden, hallf-revealed wonders, that yet couch beneath the words of the Scripture. --I. Taylor.

3. To bend the body, as in reverence, pain, labor, etc.; to stoop; to crouch. [Obs.]

An aged squire That seemed to couch under his shield three-square. --Spenser.

Couch

Couch\, n. [F. couche, OF. colche, culche, fr. colchier. See Couch, v. t. ]

1. A bed or place for repose or sleep; particularly, in the United States, a lounge.

Gentle sleep . . . why liest thou with the vile In loathsome beds, and leavest the kingly couch? --Shak.

Like one that wraps the drapery of his couch About him, and lies down to pleasant dreams. --Bryant.

2. Any place for repose, as the lair of a beast, etc.

3. A mass of steeped barley spread upon a floor to germinate, in malting; or the floor occupied by the barley; as, couch of malt.

4. (Painting & Gilding) A preliminary layer, as of color, size, etc.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : Couch
Spanish: sofá, canapé,
German: die Couch,
Japanese: 寝いす
More Translations »

couch  (v.)
c.1330, from O.Fr. colchier, from L. collocare "to lay," from com- "together" + locare "to place." Meaning "to put into words" is from 1529. Heraldic couchant is 1496, from Fr. prp.

couch  (n.)
1340, from O.Fr. couche "a bed, lair," from coucher "to lie down," from L. collocare (see couch (v.)). Traditionally, a couch has the head end only raised, and only half a back; a sofa has both ends raised and a full back; a settee is like a sofa but may be without arms; an ottoman has neither back nor arms, nor has a divan, the distinctive feature of which is that it goes against a wall. Couch potato first recorded 1979. The first element in Couch-grass (1578) is a corruption of O.E. cwice (see quick).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Main Entry: 1couch
Pronunciation: 'kauch
Function: transitive verb
: to treat (a cataract or a person having a cataract) by displacing the lens ofthe eye into the vitreous body

Main Entry: 2couch
Function: noun
: an article of furniture used (as by a patient undergoing psychoanalysis) for sitting or reclining —on thecouch : receiving psychiatric treatment
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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Couch

(Gen. 49:4; 1 Chr. 5:1; Job 7:13; Ps. 6:6, etc.), a seat for repose or rest. (See BED.)

Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary
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couch

in modern usage a sofa or settee, but in the 17th and 18th centuries a long, upholstered seat for reclining, one end sloping and high enough to provide a back rest and headrest.

Learn more about couch with a free trial on Britannica.com.

Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
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