What does "couch" mean?
An item of furniture, often upholstered, for the comfortable seating of more than one person; a sofa.
Couch
/kaʊt͡ʃ/ name, noun, verb
name, noun, verb ·Common ·High school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: An item of furniture, often upholstered, for the comfortable seating of more than one person; a sofa.
- Grammar: couch is listed as name, noun, verb.
- Nearest alternatives: sofa, analysis, analyst couch, articulate.
- Useful contrasts: beds, chair, express directly.
- Usage evidence: There is a TV remote control under the couch.
How to use "couch"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "couch" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "couch" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "couch" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "couch" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "couch" is acting as name, noun, verb in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "sofa" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "couch", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 An item of furniture, often upholstered, for the comfortable seating of more than one person; a sofa. Australia, Canada, Ireland, US
"At a casting workshop, an actor was performing a blank scene […] and he had not bothered to make any choices about why he was on stage, what his motivation was, what he was playing. He had decided who he was and where he was (on a couch with his girlfriend) but had not decided what he wanted. So the performance was flat and lifeless."
- 2 Couch grass, a species of persistent grass, Elymus repens, usually considered a weed. uncountable
"The first field it did was one on which Swedes had been roughly planted the year previously, but it had not been touched since the crop was eaten off, and was then a perfect wilderness of Couch, Docks, Thistles, and Dandelions."
- 3 a narrow bed on which a patient lies during psychiatric or psychoanalytic treatment wordnet
- 4 A bed, a resting-place.
"O Sleepe, O gentle Sleepe, […] O thou dull God, why lyeſt thou with the vilde, / In loathſome Beds, and leau'st the Kingly Couch, / A Watch-caſe, or a common Larum-Bell?"
- 5 a flat coat of paint or varnish used by artists as a primer wordnet
Show 6 more definitions
- 6 The den of an otter.
"A couch was located under the roots of an uprooted tree in a medium dense spruce patch and the second couch was located under a free standing spruce along a regulation channel."
- 7 an upholstered seat for more than one person wordnet
- 8 A preliminary layer, as of colour or size.
"For the re-lining, the usual method is to strain a new and strong cloth of an even surface upon the stretcher, to rub it down smooth with pumice stone, and then to give it an even couch of paste, a similar couch is then to be applied to the back of the picture after it has been freed from all inequalities; […]"
- 9 A mass of steeped barley spread upon a floor to germinate, in malting; or the floor occupied by the barley.
"a couch of malt"
- 10 Psychotherapy. metonymically, usually
"He spent years on the couch going over his traumatic childhood."
- 11 Voters who opt out of voting, usually by staying home on their couch. figuratively, usually
"If Kamala Harris replaces Joe Biden in the 2024 election, analysts warn that she will lose to the couch."
Verb
- 1 To lie down; to recline (upon a couch or other place of repose). intransitive
"Why did you ſo, doth not the Gentleman / Deſerue as full as fortunate a bed, / As euer Beatrice ſhall couch upon?"
- 2 formulate in a particular style or language wordnet
- 3 To bend the body, as in reverence, pain, labor, etc.; to stoop; to crouch. intransitive
"At laſt, as thro an open Plain they yode, / They ſpy'd a Knight, that towards pricked fair, / And him beſide an aged Squire there rode, / That ſeem'd to couch under his Shield three-ſquare, / As if that Age bad him that Burden ſpare, / And yield it thoſe that ſtouter could it wield: […]"
- 4 To lay something upon a bed or other resting place. transitive
"But where vnbruſed youth with vnſtuft braine / Doth couch his lims, there, golden ſleepe doth raigne; […]"
- 5 To arrange or dispose as if in a bed. transitive
"[T]he Sea and the Land make one Globe, and the waters couch themſelves, as cloſe as may be, to the Center of this Globe in a Spherical convexity; ſo that if all the Mountains and Hills were ſcal'd, and the Earth made even, the Waters would not overflow its ſmooth ſurface; […]"
Show 7 more definitions
- 6 To lay or deposit in a bed or layer; to bed. transitive
"It is, at this Day, in uſe, in Gaza, to couch Pot-Sheards or Veſſels of Earth, in their Walls, to gather the Wind from the top, and to paſſe it downe in Spouts into Roomes. It is a Device for Freſhneſſe, in great Heats; […]"
- 7 To lower (a spear or lance) to the position of attack. transitive
"And fairly couching his ſteel-headed Spear, / Him firſt ſaluted with a ſturdy Stroke: / It booted nought Sir Guyon, coming near, / To think ſuch hideous Puiſſance on foot to bear."
- 8 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. transitive
"[…] A Man having a Cataract in both Eyes, which intirely deprived him of Sight, committed himſelf to an Oculiſt, who finding them ripe, performed the Operation, and couched the Cataracts with all the Succeſs could be deſired; but after they were couched, he could not ſee objects diſtinctly, even at an ordinary Diſtance, without the Help of a very convex Lens; which is what every body has obſerved to be neceſſary to all thoſe who have had a Cataract couched: […]."
- 9 To transfer (for example, sheets of partly dried pulp) from the wire mould to a felt blanket for further drying. transitive
"He invented the grooved wood roll or mandrel on which the thin film of wet paper, as couched from the cylinder mould, was wound and thus the sheet built up to the required thickness, when it was cut from the roll or mandrel along the groove and peeled off to be air dried and sheet calendered."
- 10 To attach a thread onto fabric with small stitches in order to add texture. transitive
"These curtains we couched in white cord with quaint designs."
- 11 To phrase in a particular style; to use specific wording for. transitive
"He couched it as a request, but it was an order."
- 12 To lie down for concealment; to conceal, to hide; to be concealed; to be included or involved darkly or secretly. archaic, intransitive
"Come, come: wee'll couch i'th Caſtle-ditch, till we ſee the light of our Fairies."
Proper Noun
- 1 A surname.
- 2 An unincorporated community in Mason County, West Virginia, United States.
Synonyms
All synonymsExample
"There is a TV remote control under the couch."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "couch"?
Common synonyms include: sofa, analysis, analyst couch, articulate, bear down, bed.
How do you use "couch" in a sentence?
There is a TV remote control under the couch.
How do you pronounce "couch"?
Pronounced /kaʊt͡ʃ/.
Etymology
Etymology 1
From Middle English couche, cowche, from Old French couche, from the verb (see below). Doublet of cwtch.
Etymology 2
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.
Etymology 3
From a variant of quitch, from Middle English quich, quyke, from Old English cwice.