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couchant

[kou-chuh nt]
adjective
  1. lying down; crouching.
  2. Heraldry. (of an animal) represented as lying on its stomach with its hind legs and forelegs pointed forward.
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Origin of couchant

1400–50; late Middle English < Middle French, present participle of coucher to lay or lie. See couch, -ant
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for couchant

Historical Examples of couchant

  • Couchant: is at rest, the fore legs stretched on the ground, as No. 177.

    The Handbook to English Heraldry

    Charles Boutell

  • Couchant by the body of the bighorn, he only growled as the cavalcade swept past.

  • Just before her up there in the clouds is a huge lion, couchant.

  • His eyes dwelt fondly on the placid Imogene, couchant amidships.

  • These seemed to be a couchant leopard, with the motto, "I sleep; wake me not."

    The Talisman

    Sir Walter Scott

British Dictionary definitions for couchant

couchant

adjective
  1. (usually postpositive) heraldry in a lying positiona lion couchant
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Word Origin for couchant

C15: from French: lying, from Old French coucher to lay down; see couch
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