name
Meaning 1
A surname.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Standard Lemma guide
couch
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.
-
/kuːt͡ʃ/
-
General-American, Received-Pronunciation: /ˈkaʊ̯t͡ʃ/
-
US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
-
Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
-
/ˈkɐʊ̯t͡ʃ/ Canada, Canadian raising
-
/ˈkɜʊ̯t͡ʃ/ Canada, Canadian raising
-
/ˈkʌʊ̯t͡ʃ/ Canada, Canadian raising
-
/ˈkəʊ̯t͡ʃ/ Canada, Canadian raising
-
/ˈkæʊ̯t͡ʃ/ Southern US, Midland US, Mid-Atlantic US, New York City, Australian, New Zealand
-
Australia: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
-
/ˈkaːt͡ʃ/ Pittsburgh, General South African, /aʊ̯/-monophthongization
-
rhymes with -aʊtʃ
-
/kuːt͡ʃ/ in papermaking terminology
-
rhymes with -uːtʃ
-
CMU ARPABET: K AW1 CH Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
name
Meaning 2
An unincorporated community in Mason County, West Virginia, United States.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 3
An item of furniture, often upholstered, for the comfortable seating of more than one person; a sofa.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: Australia, Canada, Ireland, US
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 4
A bed, a resting-place.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 5
The den of an otter.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 6
A preliminary layer, as of colour or size.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Qualifier: painting and gilding
Topics: art, arts
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 7
A mass of steeped barley spread upon a floor to germinate, in malting; or the floor occupied by the barley.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Topics: beverages, brewing, business, food, lifestyle, manufacturing
Examples
- a couch of malt
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 8
Psychotherapy.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: metonymically, usually
Examples
- He spent years on the couch going over his traumatic childhood.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 9
Voters who opt out of voting, usually by staying home on their couch.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: figuratively, usually
Topics: government, politics
Examples
- If Kamala Harris replaces Joe Biden in the 2024 election, analysts warn that she will lose to the couch.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 10
Couch grass, a species of persistent grass, Elymus repens, usually considered a weed.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: uncountable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
verb
Meaning 11
To lie down; to recline (upon a couch or other place of repose).
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: intransitive
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: lie down, recline
Antonyms: none provided
verb
Meaning 12
To bend the body, as in reverence, pain, labor, etc.; to stoop; to crouch.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: intransitive
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
verb
Meaning 13
To lay something upon a bed or other resting place.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: transitive
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
verb
Meaning 14
To arrange or dispose as if in a bed.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: transitive
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
verb
Meaning 15
To lay or deposit in a bed or layer; to bed.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: transitive
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
verb
Meaning 16
To lower (a spear or lance) to the position of attack.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: transitive
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
verb
Meaning 17
In the treatment of a cataract in the eye, to displace the opaque lens with a sharp object such as a needle. The technique is regarded as largely obsolete.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: transitive
Topics: medicine, ophthalmology, sciences
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
verb
Meaning 18
To transfer (for example, sheets of partly dried pulp) from the wire mould to a felt blanket for further drying.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: transitive
Topics: arts, crafts, hobbies, lifestyle, papermaking
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
verb
Meaning 19
To attach a thread onto fabric with small stitches in order to add texture.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: transitive
Topics: business, manufacturing, sewing, textiles
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
verb
Meaning 20
To phrase in a particular style; to use specific wording for.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: transitive
Examples
- He couched it as a request, but it was an order.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: explain, express, phrase, term
Antonyms: none provided
verb
Meaning 21
To lie down for concealment; to conceal, to hide; to be concealed; to be included or involved darkly or secretly.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: archaic, intransitive
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 22
a narrow bed on which a patient lies during psychiatric or psychoanalytic treatment
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: bed
noun
Meaning 23
a flat coat of paint or varnish used by artists as a primer
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: flat coat, ground, primer, priming, primer coat, priming coat, undercoat
noun
Meaning 24
an upholstered seat for more than one person
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: sofa, lounge
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: seat
Narrower terms: convertible, sofa bed, daybed, divan bed, divan, love seat, loveseat, tete-a-tete, vis-a-vis, settee, squab
verb
Meaning 25
formulate in a particular style or language
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
- I wouldn't put it that way
- She cast her request in very polite language
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: frame, redact, cast, put
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: give voice, formulate, word, phrase, articulate
History
Etymology
* As a Welsh surname, from coch (“red”). * As an French surname, from Old French couch (“bed”).
From Middle English couche, cowche, from Old French couche, from the verb (see below). Doublet of cwtch.
From a variant of quitch, from Middle English quich, quyke, from Old English cwice.
From Middle English couchen, from Old French (se) couchier, (se) colchier (“go to bed, lay down”), from Latin collocāre (“set in place”), from com- (“together, with”) + locāre. Doublet of collocate.
Across languages
Translations
111 source translations are retained for this English entry.
- Afrikaans: bank — furniture for seating of more than one person
- Albanian: divan — furniture for seating of more than one person
- Arabic: فِرَاش (firāš) — furniture for seating of more than one person
- Arabic: أَرِيكَة (ʔarīka) — furniture for seating of more than one person
- Arabic: مَضْجَع (maḍjaʕ) — furniture for seating of more than one person
- Arabic: كنبة (kánaba) — furniture for seating of more than one person
- Arabic: كنبة (kanaba) — furniture for seating of more than one person
- Arabic: كنباية (kanabāye) — furniture for seating of more than one person
- Armenian: բազմոց (bazmocʻ) — furniture for seating of more than one person
- Armenian: թախտ (tʻaxt) — furniture for seating of more than one person
- Belarusian: канапа (kanapa) — furniture for seating of more than one person
- Bulgarian: диван (divan) — furniture for seating of more than one person
- Bulgarian: кушетка (kušetka) — furniture for seating of more than one person
- Carpathian Rusyn: ді́ван (dívan) — furniture for seating of more than one person
- Carpathian Rusyn: ґавч (gavč) — furniture for seating of more than one person
- Catalan: sofà — furniture for seating of more than one person
- Chinese Mandarin: 沙發 /沙发 (shāfā) — furniture for seating of more than one person
- Chinese Mandarin: 長沙發椅 /长沙发椅 (cháng shāfāyǐ) — furniture for seating of more than one person
- Czech: pohovka — furniture for seating of more than one person
- Czech: gauč — furniture for seating of more than one person
- Danish: sofa — furniture for seating of more than one person
- Danish: briks — furniture for seating of more than one person
- Danish: leje — furniture for seating of more than one person
- Dutch: bank — furniture for seating of more than one person
- Dutch: sofa — furniture for seating of more than one person
- Esperanto: kanapo — furniture for seating of more than one person
- Esperanto: sofo — furniture for seating of more than one person
- Estonian: diivan — furniture for seating of more than one person
- Finnish: sohva — furniture for seating of more than one person
- Finnish: leposohva — furniture for seating of more than one person
- French: sofa — furniture for seating of more than one person
- French: canapé — furniture for seating of more than one person
- Georgian: ტახტი (ṭaxṭi) — furniture for seating of more than one person
- German: Sofa — furniture for seating of more than one person
- German: Couch — furniture for seating of more than one person
- Greek: καναπές (kanapés) — furniture for seating of more than one person
- Ancient Greek: λέχος (lékhos) — furniture for seating of more than one person
- Hebrew: סַפָּה (sapa) — furniture for seating of more than one person
- Hungarian: kanapé — furniture for seating of more than one person
- Hungarian: dívány — furniture for seating of more than one person
- Icelandic: sófi — furniture for seating of more than one person
- Irish: tolg — furniture for seating of more than one person
- Italian: canapè — furniture for seating of more than one person
- Italian: divano — furniture for seating of more than one person
- Italian: sofà — furniture for seating of more than one person
- Japanese: カウチ (kauchi) — furniture for seating of more than one person
- Japanese: ソファー (sofā) — furniture for seating of more than one person
- Japanese: 寝台 (shindai) — furniture for seating of more than one person
- Korean: 카우치 (kauchi) — furniture for seating of more than one person
- Korean: 소파 (sopa) — furniture for seating of more than one person
- Latin: cubīle — furniture for seating of more than one person
- Latin: lectus — furniture for seating of more than one person
- Latin: sponda — furniture for seating of more than one person
- Latin: pulvīnar — furniture for seating of more than one person
- Malay: sofa — furniture for seating of more than one person
- Maltese: sufan — furniture for seating of more than one person
- Māori: hōpa — furniture for seating of more than one person
- Norman: longue tchaîse — furniture for seating of more than one person
- Norwegian Bokmål: sofa — furniture for seating of more than one person
- Norwegian Nynorsk: sofa — furniture for seating of more than one person
- Ojibwe: genwaakwak apabiwin — furniture for seating of more than one person
- Persian: کاناپه (kânâpe) — furniture for seating of more than one person
- Persian: سوفا (sofâ) — furniture for seating of more than one person
- Polish: kanapa — furniture for seating of more than one person
- Polish: sofa — furniture for seating of more than one person
- Polish: wersalka — furniture for seating of more than one person
- Portuguese: sofá — furniture for seating of more than one person
- Portuguese: cadeirão — furniture for seating of more than one person
- Russian: дива́н (diván) — furniture for seating of more than one person
- Russian: куше́тка (kušétka) — furniture for seating of more than one person
- Russian: тахта́ (taxtá) — furniture for seating of more than one person
- Russian: софа́ (sofá) — furniture for seating of more than one person
- Northern Sami: soffá — furniture for seating of more than one person
- Northern Sami: suffá — furniture for seating of more than one person
- Sanskrit: तल्प (talpa) — furniture for seating of more than one person
- Scottish Gaelic: langasaid — furniture for seating of more than one person
- Serbo-Croatian: ležaj — furniture for seating of more than one person
- Serbo-Croatian: kauč — furniture for seating of more than one person
- Slovak: gauč — furniture for seating of more than one person
- Slovene: kavč — furniture for seating of more than one person
- Lower Sorbian: kawč — furniture for seating of more than one person
- Spanish: sofá — furniture for seating of more than one person
- Spanish: sillón — furniture for seating of more than one person
- Swedish: soffa — furniture for seating of more than one person
- Turkish: kanepe — furniture for seating of more than one person
- Ottoman Turkish: قاناپه (kanape) — furniture for seating of more than one person
- Ottoman Turkish: صفه (sofa) — furniture for seating of more than one person
- Ukrainian: диван (dyvan) — furniture for seating of more than one person
- Ukrainian: канапа (kanapa) — furniture for seating of more than one person
- Vietnamese: đi văng — furniture for seating of more than one person
- Welsh: glwth — furniture for seating of more than one person
- Bulgarian: лежа (leža) — lie down (on a couch)
- Bulgarian: полягам (poljagam) — lie down (on a couch)
- Danish: lægge sig — lie down (on a couch)
- Hungarian: hever — lie down (on a couch)
- Hungarian: leheveredik — lie down (on a couch)
- Hungarian: ledől — lie down (on a couch)
- Bulgarian: излагам (izlagam) — phrase in a particular style
- Bulgarian: формулирам (formuliram) — phrase in a particular style
- Chinese Mandarin: 表達 /表达 (biǎodá) — phrase in a particular style
- Danish: affatte — phrase in a particular style
- Danish: udtrykke — phrase in a particular style
- French: formuler — phrase in a particular style
- French: rédiger — phrase in a particular style
- Hungarian: megfogalmaz — phrase in a particular style
- Polish: ubierać w słowa — phrase in a particular style
- Polish: ubrać w słowa — phrase in a particular style
- Portuguese: escrever — phrase in a particular style
- Portuguese: estilizar — phrase in a particular style
- Russian: формули́ровать (formulírovatʹ) — phrase in a particular style
- Russian: выража́ть (vyražátʹ) — phrase in a particular style
Real reading context