couch
(kouch)
[Middle English couche, from Old French culche, couche, from couchier, to lay down, lie down, from Latin collocāre; see collocate.]
noun
- A sofa.
- A sofa on which a patient lies while undergoing psychoanalysis or psychiatric treatment.
- The frame or floor on which grain, usually barley, is spread in malting.
- A layer of grain, usually barley, spread to germinate.
- A priming coat of paint or varnish used in artistic painting.
verb: couched, couch·ing, couch·es.
transitive verb
- To word in a certain manner; phrase: couched their protests in diplomatic language.
- To cause (oneself) to lie down, as for rest.
- To embroider by laying thread flat on a surface and fastening it by stitches at regular intervals.
- To spread (grain) on a couch to germinate, as in malting.
- To lower (a spear, for example) to horizontal position, as for an attack.
intransitive verb
- To lie down; recline, as for rest.
- To lie in ambush or concealment; lurk.
- To be in a heap or pile, as leaves for decomposition or fermentation.
derivatives
- couch́er
- noun
