| 释义 |
couch
I. \ˈkau̇ch; in sense 9 usually ˈküch\ verb
(-ed/-ing/-es)
Etymology: Middle English couchen, from Middle French couchier, coucher to lay down, put to bed, from Latin collocare to lay, put, place, from com- + locare to place — more at locate
transitive verb
1.
a. obsolete : to set over : overlay, inlay
b. : to embroider by laying an outlining thread along the surface and fastening it with small stitches at regular intervals
2.
a. : to compose, settle, or recline for sleep or rest
< at the end of the day's journey the camels needed no urging to be couched — John Skölle >
— used of an animal usually reflexively or passively
< a lion couching himself by the tree >
b. : to compose for sleep : cause to lie down : bed — used of a person usually reflexively or passively
< couched on the ground >
c. : to place, locate, or settle especially in a position suggesting security, protection, or repose : place in a particular setting or background
< couched in the magnificence of gorgeous and elaborate costumes — Faubion Bowers >
3. archaic : to lay or deposit in a bed or layer (as in building or gardening) : bed
4. : to place or hold in a position level and pointed forward ready or as if ready for use
< advancing with spears couched >
< couching his lance, he seated himself firmly in his saddle — W.S.Maugham >
5. : express:
a. : to place or compose in a specified kind of language : word, phrase
< prayer, couched in the idiom of the Bible — Edna Ferber >
b. : to include or imply obscurely or so as to make comprehension difficult
< all this and more … lies naturally couched under this allegory — Roger L'Estrange >
6. archaic : to place in hiding or ambush : set in hiding or lurking — usually used reflexively or in the passive
7. : to treat (a cataract or a person having a cataract) by an operation intended to restore partial vision by displacing the lens of the eye into the vitreous
8. : to bring down : lower, depress, contract
< some of the quills couched, some still erect >
9.
a. : to press (a wet sheet of new handmade paper still on the mold) onto a felt
b. : to press (a sheet of paper stock) on the wire of a cylinder machine and transfer onto a felt for further pressing and drying
c. : to press water from (a sheet) on a couch roll of a fourdrinier machine or extract it by a suction couch preparatory to transferring to a felt
intransitive verb
1. : to lie down for or as if for sleep or rest
a. of a person : to recline on or as if on a bed; sometimes : to couple in sexual intercourse
< a goddess couching with a mortal — Andrew Lang >
b. of an animal : to lie down, recline, or kneel for or as if for rest
< boars couching >
< the odd way a camel couches >
c. : to lie or be situated
< the deep that couches beneath — Deut 33:13 (Revised Standard Version) >
2. : to bend down low:
a. : to kneel, stoop, or bow especially in obeisance, subserviency, or submission
b. : to lie or lurk in concealment or ambush
< couching in the wood to waylay the traveler >
3. of leaves : to lie in a heap or mass while decomposition or fermentation proceeds
Synonyms: see lurk
II. \ˈkau̇ch; in sense 3 often and in sense 4 usually ˈküch\ noun
(-es)
Usage: often attributive
Etymology: Middle English couche, from Middle French, from Old French culche, couche, from couchier
1.
a. archaic : bed
b. archaic : a piece of furniture or other arrangement on which one sleeps
c. : an article of furniture for sitting or reclining; specifically : a piece of upholstered furniture that is long enough to lie down on or that can seat several persons and that has sometimes a headrest at one end or sometimes a raised back and arms at both ends : sofa
d. : a psychiatrist's or psychoanalyst's couch on which patients recline
2.
a. : the den of an animal
b. : the burrow of an otter
3. : a layer or stratum that is preliminary in some fine arts processes to later layers
4. : a board covered with felt or flannel on which the sheets of pulp for handmade paper are pressed — compare couch roll
III.
variant of couch grass |