Couch

• POS: Noun, Verb (intransitive), Verb (transitive)

CIDE DICTIONARY

Couch, v. t. [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.].

•  To lay upon a bed or other resting place.  [1913 Webster]

  "Where unbruised youth, with unstuffed brain,
  Does couch his limbs, there golden sleep doth reign."  [1913 Webster]
•  To arrange or dispose as in a bed; -- sometimes followed by the reflexive pronoun.  [1913 Webster]

  "The waters couch themselves as may be to the center of this globe, in a spherical convexity."  [1913 Webster]
•  To lay or deposit in a bed or layer; to bed.  [1913 Webster]

  "It is at this day in use at Gaza, to couch potsherds, or vessels of earth, in their walls."  [1913 Webster]
•  To transfer (as sheets of partly dried pulp) from the wire cloth mold to a felt blanket, for further drying.  [1913 Webster]
•  To conceal; to include or involve darkly.  [1913 Webster]

  "There is all this, and more, that lies naturally couched under this allegory."  [1913 Webster]
•  To arrange; to place; to inlay.  Chaucer.  [1913 Webster]
•  To put into some form of language; to express; to phrase; -- used with in and under.  [1913 Webster]

  "A well-couched invective."  [1913 Webster]

  "I had received a letter from Flora couched in rather cool terms."  [1913 Webster]
•  To treat by pushing down or displacing the opaque lens with a needle; as, to couch a cataract.  [1913 Webster]

  "He stooped his head, and couched his spear,
  And spurred his steed to full career."  [1913 Webster]

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

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

Couch, v. i. 

•  To lie down or recline, as on a bed or other place of rest; to repose; to lie.  [1913 Webster]

  "Where souls do couch on flowers, we 'll hand in hand."  [1913 Webster]

  "If I court moe women, you 'll couch with moe men."  [1913 Webster]
•  To lie down for concealment; to hide; to be concealed; to be included or involved darkly.  [1913 Webster]

  "We 'll couch in the castle ditch, till we see the light of our fairies."  [1913 Webster]

  "The half-hidden, hallf-revealed wonders, that yet couch beneath the words of the Scripture."  [1913 Webster]
•  To bend the body, as in reverence, pain, labor, etc.; to stoop; to crouch.  [1913 Webster]

  "An aged squire
  That seemed to couch under his shield three-square."  [1913 Webster]

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

•  A bed or place for repose or sleep; particularly, in the United States, a lounge.  [1913 Webster]

  "Gentle sleep . . . why liest thou with the vile
  In loathsome beds, and leavest the kingly couch?"  [1913 Webster]

  "Like one that wraps the drapery of his couch
  About him, and lies down to pleasant dreams."  [1913 Webster]
•  Any place for repose, as the lair of a beast, etc.  [1913 Webster]
•  A mass of steeped barley spread upon a floor to germinate, in malting; or the floor occupied by the barley; as, couch of malt.  [1913 Webster]
•  A preliminary layer, as of color, size, etc.  [1913 Webster]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

Couch, n. & v.
--n.
1 an upholstered piece of furniture for several people; a sofa.
2 a long padded seat with a headrest at one end, esp. one on which a psychiatrist's or doctor's patient reclines during examination.
--v.
1 tr. (foll. by in) express in words of a specified kind (couched in simple language).
2 tr. lay on or as on a couch.
3 intr. a (of an animal) lie, esp. in its lair. b lie in ambush.
4 tr. lower (a spear etc.) to the position for attack.
5 tr. Med. treat (a cataract) by displacing the lens of the eye.

Idiom

couch potato US sl. a young person who likes lazing at home.

Couch, n. (in full couch grass) any of several grasses of the genus Agropyron, esp. A. repens, having long creeping roots.

Etymology

var. of QUITCH

THESAURUS

Couch

analysis, bear down, bed, bed down, bedstead, bring low, bunk, burrow, cave, conceive, couch in terms, covert, crawl, creep, crouch, curl up, debase, den, depress, depth interview, depth psychology, detrude, divan, doss, downbear, dream analysis, dream symbolism, earth, embed, embody in words, express, form, formularize, formulate, frame, give expression to, give words to, go to bed, go to rest, group analysis, grovel, gumshoe, gurney, haul down, hole, hug the earth, indent, interpretation of dreams, kip, lair, lay wait, let down, lie down, lie in wait, lie low, lie prone, lie prostrate, lie under, litter, lodge, loll, lounge, lower, lurk, mew, nightwalk, paragraph, phrase, present, press down, prone, prostrate, prowl, psychanalysis, psychoanalysis, psychoanalytic method, psychoanalytic therapy, psychognosis, psychognosy, psychology of depths, pull down, push down, pussyfoot, put, put in words, recline, reduce, repose, rest, rhetorize, run, set out, settee, settle, settle to rest, shadow, sink, skulk, slink, sneak, snug down, sofa, sprawl, squat, stalk, state, steal, stretcher, style, supinate, take down, take it easy, take life easy, tete-a-tete, the couch, the hay, the sack, thrust down, tiptoe, tunnel, underlie, vis-a-vis, word

ROGET THESAURUS

Couch

Horizontality

VB be horizontal, lie, recline, couch, lie down, lie flat, lie prostrate, sprawl, loll, sit down, render horizontal, lay down, lay out, level, flatten, prostrate, knock down, floor, fell.

Support

N support, ground, foundation, base, basis, terra firma, bearing, fulcrum, bait, caudex crib, point d'appui, pou sto, purchase footing, hold, locus standi, landing place, landing stage, stage, platform, block, rest, resting place, groundwork, substratum, riprap, sustentation, subvention, floor, supporter, aid, prop, stand, anvil, fulciment, cue rest, jigger, monkey, stay, shore, skid, rib, truss, bandage, sleeper, stirrup, stilts, shoe, sole, heel, splint, lap, bar, rod, boom, sprit, outrigger, ratlings, staff, stick, crutch, alpenstock, baton, staddle, bourdon, cowlstaff, lathi, mahlstick, post, pillar, shaft, thill, column, pilaster, pediment, pedicle, pedestal, plinth, shank, leg, socle, zocle, buttress, jamb, mullion, abutment, baluster, banister, stanchion, balustrade, headstone, upright, door post, jamb, door jamb, frame, framework, scaffold, skeleton, beam, rafter, girder, lintel, joist, travis, trave, corner stone, summer, transom, rung, round, step, sill, angle rafter, hip rafter, cantilever, modillion, crown post, king post, vertebra, columella, backbone, keystone, axle, axletree, axis, arch, mainstay, trunnion, pivot, rowlock, peg, tiebeam, thole pin, board, ledge, shelf, hob, bracket, trevet, trivet, arbor, rack, mantel, mantle piece, mantleshelf, slab, console, counter, dresser, flange, corbel, table, trestle, shoulder, perch, horse, easel, desk, clotheshorse, hatrack, retable, teapoy, seat, throne, dais, divan, musnud, chair, bench, form, stool, sofa, settee, stall, arm chair, easy chair, elbow chair, rocking chair, couch, fauteuil, woolsack, ottoman, settle, squab, bench, aparejo, faldstool, horn, long chair, long sleeve chair, morris chair, lamba chauki, lamba kursi, saddle, pannel, pillion, side saddle, pack saddle, pommel, bed, berth, pallet, tester, crib, cot, hammock, shakedown, trucklebed, cradle, litter, stretcher, bedstead, four poster, French bed, bunk, kip, palang, bedding, bichhona, mattress, paillasse, pillow, bolster, mat, rug, cushion, footstool, hassock, tabouret, tripod, monopod, Atlas, Persides, Atlantes, Caryatides, Hercules, supporting, supported, fundamental, dorsigerous, astride on, straddle.

Depression

VB depress, lower, let down, take down, let down a peg, take down a peg, cast, let drop, let fall, sink, debase, bring low, abase, reduce, detrude, pitch, precipitate, overthrow, overturn, overset, upset, subvert, prostate, level, fell, cast down, take down, throw down, fling down, dash down, pull down, cut down, knock down, hew down, raze, raze to the ground, rase to the ground, trample in the dust, pull about one's ears, sit, sit down, couch, squat, crouch, stoop, bend, bow, courtesy, curtsy, bob, duck, dip, kneel, bend the knee, bow the knee, bend the head, bow the head, cower, recline.

Concealment

VB conceal, hide, secrete, put out of sight, lock up, seal up, bottle up, encrypt, encode, cipher, cover, screen, cloak, veil, shroud, cover up one's tracks, screen from sight, screen from observation, drawing the veil, draw the curtain, close the curtain, curtain, shade, eclipse, throw a view over, be cloud, be mask, mask, disguise, ensconce, muffle, smother, befog, whisper, keep from, keep back, keep to oneself, keep snug, keep close, keep secret, keep dark, bury, sink, suppress, keep from, keep from out of view, keep from out of sight, keep in the shade, throw into the shade, throw into background, stifle, hush up, smother, withhold, reserve, fence with a question, ignore, keep a secret, keep one's own counsel, hold one's tongue, make no sign, not let it go further, not breathe a word, not breathe a syllable about, not let the right hand know what the left is doing, hide one's light under a bushel, bury one's talent in a napkin, keep in the dark, leave in the dark, keep in the ignorance, blind, blind the eyes, blindfold, hoodwink, mystify, puzzle, bamboozle, be concealed, suffer an eclipse, retire from sight, couch, hide oneself, lie hid, lie in perdu, lie in close, lie in ambush (ambush), seclude oneself, lurk, sneak, skulk, slink, prowl, steal into, steal out of, steal by, steal along, play at bopeep, play at hide and seek, hide in holes and corners, still hunt.