Meaning & use
couch
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Meanings
nouncountable
A long, padded seat with a back and usually arms, big enough for two or more people to sit or lie on.
Grammar: Has a plural: one couch, two couches. Americans use it far more than British speakers, who often say sofa.
Patterns
- sit on the couch
- on the couch
We bought a green couch for the living room.
She fell asleep on the couch while the film was still playing.
The dog is not allowed on the couch.
verbtransitiveformal
To express an idea or request in a particular style of words, often to make it gentler or less direct.
Grammar: Needs an object and is usually passive with in: the advice was couched in kind terms.
Patterns
- couch something in something
- be couched in something
He couched his refusal in polite language.
The warning was couched in vague terms, so nobody took it seriously.
She couched her criticism as a friendly suggestion.
Word forms
| plural | couches |
|---|---|
| third person singular | couches |
| past tense | couched |
| past participle | couched |
| -ing form | couching |
Common combinations
- sit on the couch
- Come and sit on the couch with us.
- a leather couch
- They have an old leather couch in the den.
- couch potato
- After a week of rain, I turned into a complete couch potato.
- couched in terms
- The offer was couched in terms nobody could object to.
- couched in language
- His complaint was couched in careful language.
Synonyms and how they differ
- sofa
- Sofa is the more usual word in British English and can sound slightly more formal, while couch is the everyday American choice.
- settee
- Settee is a mainly British, somewhat old-fashioned word for a seat of this kind and is rarely heard in American speech.
- phrase
- As a verb, phrase simply means to word something, whereas couch suggests the wording was chosen to soften or disguise the message.
- express
- Express is a general word for putting thoughts into words and says nothing about care or indirectness the way couch does.
Word family
- couch potato noun
- a person who spends a lot of time sitting and watching television
- couchsurfing noun
- staying free at other people's homes while traveling
- couchette noun
- a narrow sleeping berth on a train
Commonly confused: couch or coach?
couch vs coach
A coach is a trainer, a bus or a railway carriage; it is not a piece of furniture, although the two words look alike.
Practice
The manager's criticism was ___ in such gentle language that nobody was upset.
Choose one answer.
Couched in language means expressed in a particular style of words. Coached is a different word and does not fit the pattern, and crouched means bent low.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “couch”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.