couch
Americannoun
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a piece of furniture for seating from two to four people, typically in the form of a bench with a back, sometimes having an armrest at one or each end, and partly or wholly upholstered and often fitted with springs, tailored cushions, skirts, etc.; sofa.
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a similar article of furniture, with a headrest at one end, on which some patients of psychiatrists or psychoanalysts lie while undergoing treatment.
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a bed or other place of rest; a lounge; any place used for repose.
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the lair of a wild beast.
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Brewing. the frame on which barley is spread to be malted.
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Papermaking. the board or felt blanket on which wet pulp is laid for drying into paper sheets.
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Fine Arts. a primer coat or layer, as of paint.
verb (used with object)
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to arrange or frame (words, a sentence, etc.); put into words; express.
a simple request couched in respectful language.
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to express indirectly or obscurely.
the threat couched under his polite speech.
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to lower or bend down, as the head.
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to lower (a spear, lance, etc.) to a horizontal position, as for attack.
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to put or lay down, as for rest or sleep; cause to lie down.
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to lay or spread flat.
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Papermaking. to transfer (a sheet of pulp) from the wire to the couch.
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to embroider by couching.
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Archaic. to hide; conceal.
verb (used without object)
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to lie at rest or asleep; repose; recline.
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to crouch; bend; stoop.
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to lie in ambush or in hiding; lurk.
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to lie in a heap for decomposition or fermentation, as leaves.
idioms
noun
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a piece of upholstered furniture, usually having a back and armrests, for seating more than one person
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a bed, esp one used in the daytime by the patients of a doctor or a psychoanalyst
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a frame upon which barley is malted
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a priming layer of paint or varnish, esp in a painting
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papermaking
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a board on which sheets of handmade paper are dried by pressing
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a felt blanket onto which sheets of partly dried paper are transferred for further drying
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a roll on a papermaking machine from which the wet web of paper on the wire is transferred to the next section
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archaic the lair of a wild animal
verb
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(tr) to express in a particular style of language
couched in an archaic style
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(when tr, usually reflexive or passive) to lie down or cause to lie down for or as for sleep
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archaic (intr) to lie in ambush; lurk
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(tr) to spread (barley) on a frame for malting
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(intr) (of decomposing leaves) to lie in a heap or bed
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(tr) to embroider or depict by couching
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(tr) to lift (sheets of handmade paper) onto the board on which they will be dried
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(tr) surgery to remove (a cataract) by downward displacement of the lens of the eye
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archaic (tr) to lower (a lance) into a horizontal position
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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couchsimple
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couchessimple
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have couchedperfect
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has couchedperfect
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am couchingprogressive
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are couchingprogressive
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is couchingprogressive
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have been couchingperfect progressive
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has been couchingperfect progressive
Past
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couchedsimple
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had couchedperfect
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was couchingprogressive
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were couchingprogressive
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had been couchingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of couch
1300–50; (noun) Middle English couche < Anglo-French, Old French, derivative of coucher; (v.) Middle English couchen < Anglo-French, Old French coucher, Old French colcher < Latin collocāre to put into place, equivalent to col- col- 1 + locāre to put, place; see locate
Explanation
A couch is a sofa — an upholstered piece of furniture that seats more than one person. It's nice to have a couch that's big enough for your whole family to sit on while you watch TV. The word couch comes from the French word coucher, meaning to lie down. Some types of couches are indeed meant for lying down. A psychiatrist's couch, for example, was designed to make patients feel comfortable when discussing their problems. In language, to couch is to phrase your words in a certain manner. If you don't want to hurt your friend's feelings, you should couch your words carefully when you tell her that her everyone is leaving her party early.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
The piece’s hero image is Waters, sitting on a couch with what appears to be a toddler while, blurred in the foreground, a pair of baby feet dangle into the frame.
From Salon ● Jul. 27, 2026
“And he walks around the couch and does a big ol’ pee on the floor.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 23, 2026
As a kid, I didn’t sit on the couch like “Oh, I’m going to be a nurse,” but that’s what my dream ended up being.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 10, 2026
His 9-foot-tall painting of Simpsons characters on a couch sold for $7.4 million.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 8, 2026
Camille closes her eyes and settles onto the couch arm to wait.
From "South of Somewhere" by Kalena Miller
"I had trouble standing up from low chairs and deep couches without someone offering me an arm," she said.
From BBC ● Jul. 27, 2026
Americans from both camps, along with Gannon, gathered at Tahnoon’s McLean mansion, and took their seats in his living room couches.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 19, 2026
No particular couch sticks in my memory, so perhaps these were neutral couches awaiting my emotions to spill out over them.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 16, 2026
There was crying, complaining, dissociating and even laughing on those couches.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 16, 2026
There were rugs and couches and decorative pillows.
From "Book Scavenger" by Jennifer Chambliss Bertman
Asked by CNN whether he would condemn the group and what they stand for, and whether he would urge President Donald Trump to do the same, Burgum couched his language carefully.
From Barron's ● Jul. 5, 2026
Many of the executives couched their enthusiasm with caveats.
From Salon ● Jun. 24, 2026
But for Nihill, that joke only works if it’s couched within the larger context of the cross-cultural connections, including the fact that Jamaican-born political activist Marcus Garvey drew upon the Irish independence movement for inspiration.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 13, 2026
Sir John Wolfenden, whose 1957 inquiry concluded that sex between men should be decriminalised, was a committed Anglican, and his recommendation was couched in grudging terms.
From BBC ● Dec. 24, 2025
Wart took up his position in the circle round the monster’s lair, and knelt down on one knee in the snow, with the handle of his spear couched on the ground, ready for emergencies.
From "The Once and Future King" by T. H. White
Organizations have recognized that couching fears in imaginative play is productive.
From Scientific American ● Oct. 20, 2023
Beside trepanning, the more radical surgeries included mastectomy, amputation, hernia reduction and cataract couching.
From New York Times ● Jun. 13, 2023
After accomplishing that feat and winning 90 games again in 2022, the Mariners are aiming even higher in 2023 — and not couching their forecast with nearly the customary caution.
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 1, 2023
There was no way to take the edge off the words by couching them as good ol’ boy jokes or politically incorrect misunderstandings or locker room talk.
From Washington Post ● Feb. 22, 2022
A greyhound, as white as ivory, couching on its hocks and elbows, its tail curved into the bony sickle of the greyhound, watched the old man with the doe-soft eyes of pity.
From "The Once and Future King" by T. H. White
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
