Library / English Dictionary

COUCH

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

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)

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:

An upholstered seat for more than one person

Synonyms:

couch; lounge; sofa

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

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)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Formulate in a particular style or language

Example:

She cast her request in very polite language

Synonyms:

cast; couch; frame; put; redact

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

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

Credits

 Context examples: 

The man's knapsack lay beside the couch, and I examined the contents.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

It seemed to quite do away with any doubt, and, after kneeling beside the couch for a while and looking at her lovingly and long, he turned aside.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

And now I may dismiss my heroine to the sleepless couch, which is the true heroine's portion; to a pillow strewed with thorns and wet with tears.

(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)

Among the many pillows that adorned the venerable couch was one, hard, round, covered with prickly horsehair, and furnished with a knobby button at each end.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

“Yes! I know I am a silly little thing!” said Dora, slowly looking from one of us to the other, and then putting up her pretty lips to kiss us as she lay upon her couch.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

If you like your present living space and want to stay there, you can do fun things to perk it up, such as buy a new couch, new rug, or desk, put up shelves, or redo your closets.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

Lady Brackenstall was reclining on the same couch, but looked brighter than before.

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

Sherlock Holmes sat down beside him on the couch and patted him kindly on the shoulder.

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

“We have more to tell you than you have for us,” said Phelps, reseating himself upon the couch.

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

Drawn, distorted and blood-stained, they were still those of the young fellow-squire who had sat so recently upon his own couch.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)