couch

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

1. n. A sofa.
2. n. A sofa on which a patient lies while undergoing psychoanalysis or psychiatric treatment.
3. n. The frame or floor on which grain, usually barley, is spread in malting.
4. n. A layer of grain, usually barley, spread to germinate.
5. n. A priming coat of paint or varnish used in artistic painting.
6. v. To word in a certain manner; phrase: couched their protests in diplomatic language.
7. v. To cause (oneself) to lie down, as for rest.
8. v. To embroider by laying thread flat on a surface and fastening it by stitches at regular intervals.
9. v. To spread (grain) on a couch to germinate, as in malting.
10. v. To lower (a spear, for example) to horizontal position, as for an attack.
11. v. To lie down; recline, as for rest.
12. v. To lie in ambush or concealment; lurk.
13. v. To be in a heap or pile, as leaves for decomposition or fermentation.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. To lay down or away; put in a resting-place or in a repository of any kind; place; deposit.
2. Specifically To cause to recline or lie upon a bed or other place of rest; dispose or place upon, or as upon, a couch or bed.
3. In brewing, to spread out upon a floor, as steeped barley, in order to promote germination.
4. In paper-making, to take (a sheet of pulp) from the mold or apron on which it has been formed, and place it upon a felt.
5. To lay together closely.
6. To cause to hide or seek concealment; cause to lie close or crouch.
7. To include in the meaning of a word or statement; express; put in words; especially, to imply without distinctly stating; cover or conceal by the manner of stating: often, in the latter sense, with under: as, the compliment was couched in the most fitting terms; a threat was couched under his apparently friendly words.
8. To lower (a spear) to a horizontal position; place (a spear) under the right armpit and grasp (it) with the right hand, thus presenting the point toward the enemy. The use of the rest was of late introduction, and was not essential to the couching of a spear.
9. In surgery, to remove (a cataract) by inserting a needle through the coats of the eye and pushing the lens downward to the bottom of the vitreous humor, so as to be out of the axis of vision; remove a cataract from in this manner. See cataract, 3.
10. To inlay; trim; adorn.
11. To lie in a place of rest or deposit; rest in a natural bed or stratum.
12. To lie on a couch, bed, or place of repose; lie down; take a recumbent posture.
13. To lie as in ambush; be hidden or concealed; lie close; crouch.
14. To lie down, crouch, or squat, as an animal.
15. To bend or stoop, as under a burden.
16. In embroidery, to lay the thread on the surface of the foundation and secure it by stitches of fine material. See couching, 5.
17. n. A bed; a place for sleep or rest.
18. n. A long seat, commonly upholstered, having an arm at one end, and often a back, upon which one can rest at full length; a lounge.
19. n. Any place for retirement and repose, as the lair of a wild beast, etc.
20. n. The frame on which barley is spread to be malted.
21. n. A layer, coating, or stratum. Specifically— In malting, a heap of steeped barley spread out on a floor to allow germination to take place, and so convert the grain into malt.
22. n. Couch-grass.
23. In agriculture, to clear, as land, from couch-grass.
24. To lie in a heap or pile to decay and pass into compost, as leaves and litter.

Wiktionary

1. n. couch grass, a species of persistent grass, Elymus repens, usually considered a weed
2. v. To phrase in a particular style, to use specific wording.
3. v. archaic To conceal; to hide
4. n. An item of furniture for the comfortable seating of more than one person.
5. n. Bed, resting-place.
6. v. To lie down; to recline (upon a couch).

GNU Webster's 1913

1. v. To lay upon a bed or other resting place.
2. v. To arrange or dispose as in a bed; -- sometimes followed by the reflexive pronoun.
3. v. To lay or deposit in a bed or layer; to bed.
4. v. (Paper Making) To transfer (as sheets of partly dried pulp) from the wire cloth mold to a felt blanket, for further drying.
5. v. To conceal; to include or involve darkly.
6. v. obsolete To arrange; to place; to inlay.
7. v. To put into some form of language; to express; to phrase; -- used with in and under.
8. v. (Med.) To treat by pushing down or displacing the opaque lens with a needle.
9. v. To lie down or recline, as on a bed or other place of rest; to repose; to lie.
10. v. To lie down for concealment; to hide; to be concealed; to be included or involved darkly.
11. v. obsolete To bend the body, as in reverence, pain, labor, etc.; to stoop; to crouch.
12. n. A bed or place for repose or sleep; particularly, in the United States, a lounge.
13. n. Any place for repose, as the lair of a beast, etc.
14. n. A mass of steeped barley spread upon a floor to germinate, in malting; or the floor occupied by the barley.
15. n. (Painting & Gilding) A preliminary layer, as of color, size, etc.

WordNet 3.0

1. n. a flat coat of paint or varnish used by artists as a primer
2. n. an upholstered seat for more than one person
3. v. formulate in a particular style or language
4. n. a narrow bed on which a patient lies during psychiatric or psychoanalytic treatment