casting couch

[ kas-ting kouch, kah-sting ]

nounInformal.

a couch in the office of a casting director, supposedly used with actors or actresses who are promised roles in exchange for sexual favors.
the supposed practice of casting actors or actresses in exchange for sexual favors: young women who have suffered the casting couch.

Origin of casting couch

First recorded in 1930–35

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use casting couch in a sentence

What Egan and his attorney described in the lawsuit is far beyond any classic casting couch situation.
Will Naming And Shaming Prove to be a Winning Strategy For Bryan Singer's Accuser? | Eboni K. Williams | April 22, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
Daily Beast has a slideshow up of famous people recounting their casting couch horror stories.
The Casting Couch: Many Are Called, But Apparently Few Are Chosen | Megan McArdle | October 16, 2012 | THE DAILY BEAST
And have you successfully avoided all the creepy “casting couch” producers?
Sasha Grey Talks Porn and Charlie Sheen | Marlow Stern | March 28, 2011 | THE DAILY BEAST

British Dictionary definitions for casting couch

casting couch

noun

informal a couch on which a casting director is said to seduce women seeking a part in a film or play

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

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