English Explanatory Dictionary

couch

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. An item of furniture, often upholstered, for the comfortable seating of more than one person; a sofa.
  2. A bed, a resting-place.
  3. The den of an otter.
  4. A preliminary layer, as of colour or size.
  5. A mass of steeped barley spread upon a floor to germinate, in malting; or the floor occupied by the barley.
  6. Psychotherapy.
  7. Voters who opt out of voting, usually by staying home on their couch.
verb
  1. To lie down; to recline (upon a couch or other place of repose).
  2. To bend the body, as in reverence, pain, labor, etc.; to stoop; to crouch.
  3. To lay something upon a bed or other resting place.
  4. To arrange or dispose as if in a bed.
  5. To lay or deposit in a bed or layer; to bed.
  6. To lower (a spear or lance) to the position of attack.
  7. In the treatment of a cataract in the eye, to displace the opaque lens with a sharp object such as a needle. The technique is regarded as largely obsolete.
  8. To transfer (for example, sheets of partly dried pulp) from the wire mould to a felt blanket for further drying.
  9. To attach a thread onto fabric with small stitches in order to add texture.
  10. To phrase in a particular style; to use specific wording for.
  11. To lie down for concealment; to conceal, to hide; to be concealed; to be included or involved darkly or secretly.
noun
  1. Couch grass, a species of persistent grass, Elymus repens, usually considered a weed.
name
  1. A surname.
  2. An unincorporated community in Mason County, West Virginia, United States.

Pronunciation

/ˈkaʊ̯t͡ʃ/ en-us-couch.ogg LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-couch.wav /ˈkɐʊ̯t͡ʃ/ /ˈkɜʊ̯t͡ʃ/ /ˈkʌʊ̯t͡ʃ/ /ˈkəʊ̯t͡ʃ/ /ˈkæʊ̯t͡ʃ/ en-au-couch.ogg /ˈkaːt͡ʃ/ /kuːt͡ʃ/

Word forms

couch couches cowch couching couched Cooch Cough Couche

Etymology

From Middle English couche, cowche, from Old French couche, from the verb (see below). Doublet of cwtch.

Synonyms

davenport divan settee sofa lie down recline explain express phrase term

Derived words

bed-couch casting couch couch bed couchbound couch dance couch doctor couchful couch gag couch-grass couching stitch couchless couchlike couch lock couchlock couchmaker couchmaking couchmate couchness couch potato couchside couch surf couch-surf couch surfer couch-surfer couch surfing couch-surfing fly couch onion couch on the couch virtuous couch water couch Winnipeg couch couchable couch a hogshead couch down couchedness coucher couch up recouch uncouched
This entry uses open data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA/GFDL). Word forms are used for search and are not indexed as separate pages.
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