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

Other Word Forms

• coachable adjective
• coachability noun
• outcoach verb (used with object)
• overcoach verb
• uncoachable adjective
• uncoached adjective
• well-coached adjective
• coacher noun

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

But Reed and his coaches knew that he needed something more if he was going to be the quarterback to lead the Aggies into the College Football Playoff.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Columbus Crew head coach Wilfried Nancy appears close to being appointed as Rodgers' permanent successor and O'Neill thinks Celtic are well placed for the new man in charge, whoever it may be.

Read more on BBC

You can tell the Cavaliers have created the culture of a championship team because players were running onto the field when they were late with no coaches around to tell them to hustle.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

The 25-year-old flanker has undergone surgery, with Ospreys head coach Mark Jones saying the British and Irish Lion now faces "four to five months" on the sidelines.

Read more on BBC

The buck stops with Slot and his coaching staff.

Read more on BBC

Related Words

• mentor 
• teacher 
• trainer