casting couch

[ kas-ting kouch, kah-sting ]

/ ˈkæs tɪŋ ˌkaʊtʃ, ˈkɑ stɪŋ /

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noun Informal.

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.

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His boss, whom he admires, is waiting to meet with him about the big project.

His boss, who he admires, is waiting to meet with him about the big project.

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Origin of casting couch

First recorded in 1930–35

Words nearby casting couch

Castilla, Castilla la Nueva, Castilla la Vieja, Castillo, casting, casting couch, casting director, casting rod, casting vote, casting wheel, cast in one's lot

How to use casting couch in a sentence

There was no casting couch, but framed posters for some of Weinstein’s more recent films under the Weinstein Company banner sat on the abandoned office’s floors—one of which Kavovit says she smashed with a hammer herself.
‘I’ve had a lot of Harveys in my life’: Meet the female construction company owner who demolished the Weinstein Company’s old office|ehinchliffe|December 9, 2020|Fortune
I watch every episode alone on my couch and I just sit there and laugh, and laugh.
Coffee Talk with Fred Armisen: On ‘Portlandia,’ Meeting Obama, and Taylor Swift’s Greatness|Marlow Stern|January 7, 2015|DAILY BEAST
In short, we found ways to couch messages of failure or inadequacy.
Random Hook-Ups or Dry Spells: Why Millennials Flunk College Dating|Ellie Schaack|January 1, 2015|DAILY BEAST
With the first set I did, the colors of the couch determined that the rest of it would be blue and yellow and white.
#Setinthestreet: Your Street Corner Is Their Art Project|James Joiner|December 24, 2014|DAILY BEAST

A worn couch sitting squarely before a wood veneer wall, accented by the head of a deer.
#Setinthestreet: Your Street Corner Is Their Art Project|James Joiner|December 24, 2014|DAILY BEAST
But I have no desire to go on casting calls or any of that stuff.
Anastasia Ashley, Surfer-Cum-Model, Rides The Viral Internet Wave|James Joiner|December 23, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Edna Pontellier, casting her eyes about, had finally kept them at rest upon the sea.
The Awakening and Selected Short Stories|Kate Chopin
Hys ignored the acid tone of her answer and sat down on the couch next to them.
Sense of Obligation|Henry Maxwell Dempsey (AKA Harry Harrison)
The moon was coming up, and its mystic shimmer was casting a million lights across the distant, restless water.
The Awakening and Selected Short Stories|Kate Chopin
Above, great standard electric lamps shed their white glare upon the eddying throng casting a myriad of grotesque shadows.
The Joyous Adventures of Aristide Pujol|William J. Locke
"I wouldn't do him any harm for the world," said Mrs. Kaye, casting down her eyes and looking very young and innocent.
Ancestors|Gertrude Atherton

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