[Coco] What exactly is a couch? (WAS: Re: (no subject))
Dave Kelly
daveekelly at earthlink.net
Sat Jul 14 00:53:09 EDT 2007
This one got really long. Some defs I was unaware of.
=================================================================
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]
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.
[1913 Webster]
Gentle sleep . . . why liest thou with the vile
In loathsome beds, and leavest the kingly couch?
--Shak.
[1913 Webster]
Like one that wraps the drapery of his couch
About him, and lies down to pleasant dreams.
--Bryant.
[1913 Webster]
2. Any place for repose, as the lair of a beast, etc.
[1913 Webster]
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.
[1913 Webster]
4. (Painting & Gilding) A preliminary layer, as of color,
size, etc.
[1913 Webster]
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.]
[1913 Webster]
1. 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.
--Shak.
[1913 Webster]
2. 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. --T.
Burnet.
[1913 Webster]
3. 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.
--Bacon.
[1913 Webster]
4. (Paper Making) To transfer (as sheets of partly dried
pulp) from the wire cloth mold to a felt blanket, for
further drying.
[1913 Webster]
5. To conceal; to include or involve darkly.
[1913 Webster]
There is all this, and more, that lies naturally
couched under this allegory. --L'Estrange.
[1913 Webster]
6. To arrange; to place; to inlay. [Obs.] --Chaucer.
[1913 Webster]
7. To put into some form of language; to express; to phrase;
-- used with in and under.
[1913 Webster]
A well-couched invective. --Milton.
[1913 Webster]
I had received a letter from Flora couched in rather
cool terms. --Blackw. Mag.
[1913 Webster]
8. (Med.) To treat by pushing down or displacing the opaque
lens with a needle; as, to couch a cataract.
[1913 Webster]
To couch a spear or To couch a lance, to lower to the
position of attack; to place in rest.
[1913 Webster]
He stooped his head, and couched his spear,
And spurred his steed to full career. --Sir W.
Scott.
[1913 Webster]
To couch malt, to spread malt on a floor. --Mortimer.
[1913 Webster]
Couch \Couch\, v. i.
1. 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. --Shak.
[1913 Webster]
If I court moe women, you 'll couch with moe men.
--Shak.
[1913 Webster]
2. 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. --Shak.
[1913 Webster]
The half-hidden, hallf-revealed wonders, that yet
couch beneath the words of the Scripture. --I.
Taylor.
[1913 Webster]
3. To bend the body, as in reverence, pain, labor, etc.; to
stoop; to crouch. [Obs.]
[1913 Webster]
An aged squire
That seemed to couch under his shield three-square.
--Spenser.
[1913 Webster]
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.
[1913 Webster]
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.
[1913 Webster]
2. A special tutor who assists in preparing a student for
examination. [Colloq.]
[1913 Webster]
Wareham was studying for India with a Wancester
coach. --G. Eliot.
[1913 Webster]
3. (Naut.) A cabin on the after part of the quarter-deck,
usually occupied by the captain. [Written also couch.]
[Obs.]
[1913 Webster]
The commanders came on board and the council sat in
the coach. --Pepys.
[1913 Webster]
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.
[1913 Webster]
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.
[+PJC]
WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]
couch
n 1: 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
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]
Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]
123 Moby Thesaurus words for "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
Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary [easton]
Couch
(Gen. 49:4; 1 Chr. 5:1; Job 7:13; Ps. 6:6, etc.), a seat for
repose or rest. (See BED.)
U.S. Gazetteer (1990) [gazetteer]
Couch, MO
Zip code(s): 65690
--
A little rum in the morning coffee. Just to clear the cobwebs, ya know.
More information about the Coco
mailing list