coach

[ kohch ]

noun

1. a large, horse-drawn, four-wheeled carriage, usually enclosed.
2. a public motorbus.
3. Railroads. day coach.
4. Also called air coach. a class of airline travel providing less luxurious accommodations than first class at a lower fare.
5. a person who trains an athlete or a team of athletes:

   a football coach.

6. a private tutor who prepares a student for an examination.

   Synonyms: preceptor, mentor

7. a person who instructs an actor or singer.
8. Baseball. a playing or nonplaying member of the team at bat who is stationed in the box outside first or third base to signal instructions to and advise base runners and batters.
9. Nautical. an after cabin in a sailing ship, located beneath the poop deck, for use especially by the commander of the ship.
10. a type of inexpensive automobile with a boxlike, usually two-door, body manufactured in the 1920s.
11. mobile home.

verb (used with object)

1. to give instruction or advice to in the capacity of a coach; instruct:

   She has coached the present tennis champion.

verb (used without object)

1. to act as a coach.
2. to go by or in a coach.

adverb

1. by coach or in coach-class accommodations:

   We flew coach from Denver to New York.

coach

/ kəʊtʃ /

noun

1. a vehicle for several passengers, used for transport over long distances, sightseeing, etc
2. a large four-wheeled enclosed carriage, usually horse-drawn
3. a railway carriage carrying passengers
4. a trainer or instructor

   a drama coach

5. a tutor who prepares students for examinations

verb

1. to give tuition or instruction to (a pupil)
2. tr to transport in a bus or coach

Derived Forms

• ˈcoacher, noun

Other Words From

• coach·a·ble adjective
• coach·a·bil·i·ty noun
• out·coach verb (used with object)
• o·ver·coach verb
• un·coach·a·ble adjective
• un·coached adjective
• well-coached adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of coach¹

First recorded in 1550–60; 1840–50 for sense “tutor”; earlier coche(e), from Middle French coche, from German Kotsche, Kutsche, from Hungarian kocsi, short for kocsi szekér “cart of Kocs,” town on the main road between Vienna and Budapest; senses referring to tutoring from the conception of the tutor as one who carries the student through examinations

Word History and Origins

Origin of coach¹

C16: from French coche, from Hungarian kocsi szekér wagon of Kocs, village in Hungary where coaches were first made; in the sense: to teach, probably from the idea that the instructor carried his pupils

Example Sentences

An assistant coach had to restrain Hill from going after the ref.

From Washington Post

Shaw’s experience of being around Bryant, both as teammate and coach, earns him a receptive ear from his inquisitive youngsters.

From Washington Post

A referee and two champion coaches showed that a woman’s place is on a Super Bowl fieldEntering the game, Reid said he expected Cheffers and umpire Fred Bryan to take a hands-off approach.

From Washington Post

Lori Locust, a defensive line assistant, and Maral Javadifar, an assistant strength and conditioning coach, have been working on Bruce Arians’s staff the past two seasons.

From Washington Post

The Chiefs have an innovative coach, an all-time quarterback who is only 25 and loads of offensive and defensive weapons.

From Washington Post

With a .700 career winning percentage as a coach in college and the NFL, Harbaugh is a winner.

From The Daily Beast

At Michigan, he would be a formidable recruiter, able to evoke the tradition of his former iconic coach, Bo Schembechler.

From The Daily Beast

Michigan supposedly offered 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh a $42 million contract, which would him the highest-paid coach in the NCAA.

From The Daily Beast

Having just crossed the country in coach, I needed instant spiritual repair.

From The Daily Beast

“Roughly a third” of the tuition goes to instructors, according to one former coach who asked not to be named.

From The Daily Beast

When she arrived she made a regular entry into the city in a coach all gold and glass, drawn by eight superb plumed horses.

From Project Gutenberg

The father of Mr. Stacy Marks predestined him for the coach-building business.

From Project Gutenberg

On the state-coach went, down the steep, driving the mules madly before it.

From Project Gutenberg

To quote Mrs. Kaye, 'A Liberal peer is as useful as a fifth wheel to a coach, and as ornamental as whitewash.'

From Project Gutenberg

A celebrated Coach in Anatomy says that no one can learn Anatomy until he has learned and forgotten it from three to seven times!

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• teach
• train
• tutor