COUCH

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does couch mean? 

• COUCH (noun)
  The noun COUCH has 3 senses:

1. an upholstered seat for more than one person

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

  Familiarity information: COUCH used as a noun is uncommon.

• COUCH (verb)
  The verb COUCH has 1 sense:

1. formulate in a particular style or language

  Familiarity information: COUCH used as a verb is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• COUCH (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

An upholstered seat for more than one person

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

couch; lounge; sofa

Hypernyms ("couch" is a kind of...):

seat (furniture that is designed for sitting on)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "couch"):

convertible; sofa bed (a sofa that can be converted into a bed)

daybed; divan bed (an armless couch; a seat by day and a bed by night)

divan (a long backless sofa (usually with pillows against a wall))

love seat; loveseat; tete-a-tete; vis-a-vis (small sofa that seats two people)

settee (a small sofa)

squab (a soft padded sofa)

Sense 2

Meaning:

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

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("couch" is a kind of...):

flat coat; ground; primer; primer coat; priming; priming coat; undercoat (the first or preliminary coat of paint or size applied to a surface)

Sense 3

Meaning:

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

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("couch" is a kind of...):

bed (a piece of furniture that provides a place to sleep)

• COUCH (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they couch    ... he / she / it couches   
Past simple: couched   
Past participle: couched   
-ing form: couching   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Formulate in a particular style or language

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Synonyms:

cast; couch; frame; put; redact

Context example:

She cast her request in very polite language

Hypernyms (to "couch" is one way to...):

articulate; formulate; give voice; phrase; word (put into words or an expression)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something PP

 Context examples 

She was enveloped in a loose dressing-gown of blue and silver, but a black sequin-covered dinner-dress lay upon the couch beside her.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

He walked past the couch to the open window, and held up the drooping stalk of a moss-rose, looking down at the dainty blend of crimson and green.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Beside the couch was a wooden chair, and on the angle of the back hung a very seedy and disreputable hard-felt hat, much the worse for wear, and cracked in several places.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

And after all, what did it signify to my character in the opinion of Marianne and her friends, in what language my answer was couched?

(Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen)

The man had hurt his leg, and was lying on the couch in a corner.

(The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum)

He rose from the couch and left the chamber, while Alleyne could hear his feet sounding upon the winding stair.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Then he sprang from the couch dreadfully frightened, ran to the well, filled a cup that was standing by him full of water, and hastened to get away in time.

(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)

They might also hide in the seams of chairs and couches, between cushions, and in the folds of curtains.

(Bedbugs, Environmental Protection Agency)

And I could see Charley Furuseth, as I had said good-bye to him that morning, lounging in a dressing-gown on the be-pillowed window couch and delivering himself of oracular and pessimistic epigrams.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

I said my evening prayers at its conclusion, and then chose my couch.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)