Find the word definition

Crossword clues for couch

Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
couch
I.noun
COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES
couch potato
COLLOCATIONS FROM CORPUS
■ ADJECTIVE
casting
▪ The casting couch, they called it.
■ NOUN
potato
▪ The last thing I want to do is to share a place with a couch potato.
▪ In many cases, Olympian designs serve as the basis for apparel that the average couch potato will be able to buy.
▪ And nomatterhow fit you are, you're just as susceptible to the same long-term damage as the average couch potato.
▪ Tired of watching the Grammy Awards as a couch potato?
▪ Skol's sales were up by 4%, thanks largely to demand from couch potatoes.
▪ Nope, we jaded couch potatoes are demanding more.
▪ No more nonstop basketball for couch potato Congressional staff members.
■ VERB
lie
▪ Ten days later, David lay on the battered couch in Laura's consulting room.
▪ Like the stomach surgeon, a psychiatrist can make all sorts of basic assumptions when a patient lies down on the couch.
▪ He smiled contentedly and lay back on the couch.
▪ She was lying on the couch, relaxing, happy to be back with Mel, and working again.
▪ I've cried a lot while lying on that couch and find that the act of crying is a cathartic release.
▪ He undressed, took a Seconal, lay down on the couch.
▪ The most likely source of ignition lay under Grissom's couch where bundles of wires ran across the floor of the capsule.
▪ The man had hurt his leg, and was lying on the couch in a corner.
sit
▪ He sat on the chintz-covered couch to the side of the fireplace and, leaning his head back, looked about him.
▪ Most nights we sat together on the couch.
▪ Gav and Janice sat on the couch, loosely attired in dressing gowns and watching a video.
▪ You mean we could have just sat on the couch and watched reruns to get the same level of cultural snobbery?
▪ Jamie came in and sat on the couch next to my chair.
▪ Mandy rushed over, and made her sit down on the couch.
▪ He sat back on a couch and shared a story that epitomizes his stature outside of California.
sitting
▪ BTina, 27, is sitting on a velour couch in her Long Beach apartment.
▪ Instead, I was sitting on my couch examining baseball cards and looking them up in the encyclopedia.
▪ Its lobby was crowded, people discouraged by the weather sitting on fat couches or standing in talkative groups.
▪ Clarisa was sitting on the couch, leaning forward as she played a boxy wooden harp.
▪ His eyes were glued to the two men now sitting on his couch.
▪ They were sitting on the couch, both crying.
▪ Most of the people in the front room were sitting on couches or beanbags.
▪ Sandie, sitting on the couch, looks down at her feet.
sleep
▪ They both went to bed but Stephen was restless and said he wanted to sleep on the couch.
▪ We slept on couches or on the floor.
▪ After that I slept on a couch in the parlor.
▪ Janir brushed his teeth and got into his sleeping bag on the couch.
▪ He had been living out of his car and sleeping on a couch in the lounge of his old dormitory.
watch
▪ You mean we could have just sat on the couch and watched reruns to get the same level of cultural snobbery?
▪ Norm and Benjy were on the couch watching television.
▪ Dodge, an old man, sits on a couch drinking whiskey and watching television.
PHRASES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
the casting couch
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
▪ After 20 years on the couch, Richard is finally giving up therapy.
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
▪ A television set was placed at the end of the purple couch, right at arm level.
▪ Benjy pushed the cushions back on to the couch.
▪ He staggered round the rear of the couch, feet crunching in plaster, and sat down.
▪ The couch has been recently reupholstered.
▪ The bed has been removed; so has the couch.
▪ We bounced, as did the couches.
▪ With the arm resting on the couch the force needed to accelerate the arm is coming from the material of the couch.
II.verb
COLLOCATIONS FROM CORPUS
■ ADVERB
in
▪ At worst a vague objective should be couched in very precise terms.
▪ Most discussions of the chronology of specific artefacts, or artefact-types, of the period are couched in predictably vague terms.
▪ But many statutory duties are couched in quite vague terms which leave it unclear what the duty-bearer must do in concrete situations.
▪ Perhaps it is beyond their intellectual grasp; or maybe the language it is couched in is too complex.
▪ First, they are couched in extremely general terms.
■ NOUN
language
▪ The Declaration of Rights itself was couched in the language of political conservatism.
▪ The language of the Bible is couched in the language of the first century.
▪ Emily Pfeiffer's case for women's education, for example, was couched in language that would appease social Darwinists.
▪ It was all couched in very discreet language, the words never inflammatory.
▪ It was also couched in language designed to satisfy or at least not to alarm a multitude of constituencies at home.
▪ But suppose that these ideas are couched in the language of parable and theology as most believe.
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
▪ It was also couched in language designed to satisfy or at least not to alarm a multitude of constituencies at home.
▪ Reporters could not attend meetings, press releases were couched in generalities and favoured the conservative line.
▪ The answer to this question needs to be couched as much in curriculum terms as in assessment terms.
▪ The Declaration of Rights itself was couched in the language of political conservatism.
▪ The language of the Bible is couched in the language of the first century.
▪ While the description of the problem is couched in literary terms, hypotheses ought to be couched in operational terms.
The Collaborative International Dictionary
couch

Coach \Coach\ (k[=o]ch; 224), n. [F. coche, fr. It. cocchio, dim. of cocca little boat, fr. L. concha mussel, mussel shell, Gr. ?, akin to Skr. [,c]ankha. Cf. Conch, Cockboat, Cockle.]

  1. A large, closed, four-wheeled carriage, having doors in the sides, and generally a front and back seat inside, each for two persons, and an elevated outside seat in front for the driver.

    Note: Coaches have a variety of forms, and differ in respect to the number of persons they can carry. Mail coaches and tallyho coaches often have three or more seats inside, each for two or three persons, and seats outside, sometimes for twelve or more.

  2. A special tutor who assists in preparing a student for examination. [Colloq.]

    Wareham was studying for India with a Wancester coach.
    --G. Eliot.

  3. (Naut.) A cabin on the after part of the quarter-deck, usually occupied by the captain. [Written also couch.]

    The commanders came on board and the council sat in the coach.
    --Pepys.

  4. (Railroad) A first-class passenger car, as distinguished from a drawing-room car, sleeping car, etc. It is sometimes loosely applied to any passenger car.

  5. One who coaches; specif. (sports), a trainer; one who assists in training individual athletes or the members of a sports team, or who performs other ancillary functions in sports; as, a third base coach.

Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
couch

c.1300, "to overlay with gold, inlay," from Old French couchier "to lay down, place; go to bed, put to bed," from Latin collocare "to lay, place, station, arrange," from com- "together" (see com-) + locare "to place" (see locate). Meaning "to put into words" is from 1520s. Related: Couched; couching. Heraldic couchant ("lying down with the head up") is late 15c., from the French present participle.

couch

mid-14c., from Old French couche (12c.) "a bed, lair," from coucher "to lie down," from Latin 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.

Wiktionary
couch

Etymology 1 n. 1 An item of furniture for the comfortable seating of more than one person. 2 Bed, resting-place. vb. To lie down; to recline (upon a couch or other place of repose). Etymology 2

vb. To phrase in a particular style, to use specific wording for. Etymology 3

n. couch grass, a species of persistent grass, ''Elymus repens'', usually considered a weed.

WordNet
couch
  1. n. an upholstered seat for more than one person [syn: sofa, lounge]

  2. a flat coat of paint or varnish used by artists as a primer

  3. a narrow bed on which a patient lies during psychiatric or psychoanalytic treatment

couch

v. formulate in a particular style or language; "I wouldn't put it that way"; "She cast her request in very polite language" [syn: frame, redact, cast, put]

Wikipedia
Couch

A couch or sofa is a piece of furniture for seating two or more people in the form of a bench, with or without armrests, that is partially or entirely upholstered, and often fitted with springs and tailored cushions. Although a couch is used primarily for seating, it may be used for sleeping, eating, jumping, and sexual relations.

In homes, couches are normally found in the family room, living room, den, sitting room or the lounge. They are sometimes also found in nonresidential settings such as hotels, lobbies of commercial offices, waiting rooms, and bars.

The term couch is used in North America and Australia, whilst the term sofa is generally used in the United Kingdom. The word originated in Middle English from the Old French noun couche, which derived from the verb meaning "to lie down". It originally denoted an item of furniture for lying or sleeping on, somewhat like a chaise longue, but now refers to sofas in general.

Other terms which can be synonymous with the above definition are settee, chesterfield, divan, davenport, lounge, and canapé. The word sofa is from Turkish derived from the Arabic word suffa for "wool", originating in the Aramaic word sippa for " mat". The word settee comes from the Old English word, "setl", which was used to describe long benches with high backs and arms, but is now generally used to describe upholstered seating.

Couch (band)

Couch is an instrumental Post-rock band based in Munich, Germany. The band is:

  • Jürgen Söder (Guitar)
  • Thomas Geltinger (Drums)
  • Michael Heilrath (Bass)
  • Stefanie Böhm (Keyboards); also plays in Ms. John Soda.
Couch (disambiguation)

A couch is a piece of furniture.

Couch may also refer to:

Couch (film)

Couch ( 1964) is a feature-length underground film directed by Andy Warhol, and starring Gerard Malanga, Piero Heliczer, Naomi Levine, Gregory Corso, Allen Ginsberg, John Palmer, Baby Jane Holzer, Ivy Nicholson, Amy Taubin, Ondine, Peter Orlovsky, Jack Kerouac, Taylor Mead, Kate Helzicer, Rufus Collins, Joseph LeSeuer, Bingingham Birdie, Mark Lancaster, Gloria Wood, and Billy Name.

Couch (surname)

Couch is a surname. "Couch" has two different origins: it is a Cornish name thought to have derived from Cornish "cough" (red) and to have been a nickname for a redheaded man (the usual Cornish pronunciation is "cooch"); there is also an English name Couch which probably originated as a name for a maker of beds or bedding. The English name Couch has the variant forms Coucha, Couche, Coucher, Couchman and Cowcha.

Notable people with the surname include:

  • Arthur Quiller-Couch, British writer and professor of literature, grandson of Jonathan Couch
  • Charles Couch (1833-1911), American politician
  • Darius Nash Couch, American soldier, businessman, and naturalist
  • Ethan Couch, North Texas teenager convicted of killing four pedestrians
  • Harvey C. Couch, Arkansas energy entrepreneur and businessman
  • Jane Couch, British woman boxer
  • John H. Couch, American sea captain and pioneer in the Oregon Country in the 19th century
  • Jonathan Couch, British naturalist
  • Mal Couch (1938–2013), American Christian writer
  • Richard Quiller Couch, British naturalist, son of Jonathan Couch
  • Tim Couch, former NFL quarterback
  • Tonia Couch, British Olympic diver
  • Warrick Couch, Australian astronomer

Usage examples of "couch".

A couched spear of acuminated granite rested by him while at his feet reposed a savage animal of the canine tribe whose stertorous gasps announced that he was sunk in uneasy slumber, a supposition confirmed by hoarse growls and spasmodic movements which his master repressed from time to time by tranquilising blows of a mighty cudgel rudely fashioned out of paleolithic stone.

He was in the cedar parlour, that adjoined the great hall, laid upon a couch, and suffering a degree of anguish from his wound, which few persons could have disguised, as he did.

The tribune stumbled and fell crosswise over Clodius Afer on the couch next to his.

Severeemish, in part through the queen of Agora, had been couched in terms of blood and lineage.

Complaints and applications for relief by the agriculturists, he said, had come up from every county, and they had been disregarded, probably because they were couched in respectful language.

As the flames sprang up, he discovered Alec asleep on the narrow couch behind him.

Seregil dropped Alec a slight bow before collapsing into the couch opposite Micum.

At last we got to our last glass of champagne, we rose from the table, and sentimentally but with gentle force I laid her on a couch and held her amorously in my arms.

On the flat roof of his house, the Mahdi sat cross-legged on a low angareb, a couch covered with a silk prayer rug and strewn with cushions.

I wish now that I had worn my broderie anglaise, and sat next to her on the couch, and never, never gone out onto the verandah this afternoon.

Then they came to an arbour, warm, and promising much refreshing to the pilgrims, for it was finely wrought above head, beautified with greens, and furnished with couches and settles.

Pavoniaso that the terrible Captain Argal passed on totally unsuspicious that a sturdy little Dutch settlement lay snugly couched in the mud, under cover of all this pestilent vapor.

As Arra stood and headed for the kitchen, he suddenly realized she expected him to coax the cat out from under the couch.

There, too, standing near to her were the Khania Atene and her uncle the old Shaman, who looked but ill at ease, and lastly, stretched upon his funeral couch, the fiery light beating upon his stark form and face, lay the dead Khan, Rassen.

Madame Aubain lay at the foot of the couch, clasping it with her arms and uttering groans of agony.